The Zipra Veterans Trust has written to the Sadc mediator in the Zimbabwe crisis, South African President Jacob Zuma, advising him to demand that the Joint Operations Command (JOC) report to all the three principals in the fragile inclusive government as a way of bridging the gap between the parties.

Currently, JOC only reports to President Robert Mugabe, leaving out other principals — Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara.

Tsvangirai has on several occasions called for the dissolution of JOC, which he has accused of running a parallel government structure.

Zipra Veterans Trust chairman Ray Ncube said this would ensure the winner in the next election would not be a newcomer to defence and security matters on assuming power.

Ncube also proposed catapulting the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (Jomic) to take over the JOC role and expedite security sector reform in the inclusive government.

He said that way, the country would be able to resolve the sticky security sector reform wrangle and ensure an orderly transitional period should the country hold early elections as advocated by Zanu PF.

Keep Reading

Ncube said: “To ensure an orderly transitional period, Jomic should henceforth replace JOC at national, provincial and district levels to avoid unnecessary duplication and misunderstanding within the GNU and at the same time, to ensure that defence and security heads recognise the need to realign their manpower mentally towards the new political dispensation.

“The national Jomic should include and brief regularly, the principals of all political parties for a period of not less than three months leading to the national elections to achieve a seamless transition.”

The Zipra Veterans Trust comprises former liberation war veterans mainly from Matabeleland, Midlands and parts of Mashonaland West provinces.

Ncube said they also recommended the decentralisation of Jomic to provincial and district levels to enhance its effectiveness in resolving political tension in the countryside.

“Its beneficiaries are out in rural districts and hence the need for the joint monitoring and implementation of the activities agreed upon to take place in those outlying areas,” said Ncube.

“Ideally, the lower Jomic functionaries should be deployed to districts where problems occur and would, thus, not only provide deterrence to political and structural violence, but also build confidence within the communities. In this regard, district Jomics would relieve the police of all the current duties relating to the requests and authorisation of political, humanitarian and civic education meetings and only invite them when need arises.”

Ncube said the structure of district Jomics would have to include traditional leadership, police, non-governmental organisations found in the particular district, churches, human rights lawyers, businesspeople, ex-combatants and members of political parties formed after the GPA.

He said they also recommended Jomic structures be set up at provincial level so that it would have a wider conceptual approach as well as be better positioned to deal with demanding issues from the seven or eight districts within their jurisdiction.

“Peculiar to each provincial Jomic is language, customs and traditions that the current set- up has deliberately ignored and will inevitably create gaps between Jomics, traditional leadership and the population,” Ncube said.