Transforming the Security Sector in
Zimbabwe: Key challenges and strategies to
enhance citizen safety and security
Paper Presented at the 2018 Transitional Justice Policy
Symposium
23 November 2018
Jeremy Brickhill1
November 2018
Introduction
This short paper cannot possibly adequately cover the vast landscape suggested by
the ambitious title. It aims instead to broadly cover the ground, to address some
issues which have not been adequately covered by other writers on the subject and
to present experience gained and lessons learned by the Zimbabwe Peace and
Security Programme (ZPSP) between 2010 and 2017.
1 The writer served in the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZPRA) during the liberation war,
and was subsequently involved in efforts to support the demobilization and re-integration process in
Zimbabwe. Thereafter he worked on demobilization and disarmament processes in other countries
(including Somalia and Northern Ireland), on ceasefire mediation processes (including Sudan, Darfur,
Columbia, Ukraine), and on security sector transformation programmes (including Somalia and
Kenya). He has worked as a programme manager and advisor for the United Nations, the African
Union and the European Union. He assisted in the design of the United Nations Ceasefire Mediation
Course and has presented lectures on a range of security arrangements issues for a variety of
governments, international organisations and academic institutions. Between 2010 and 2017 he was
Executive Director of the Zimbabwe Peace and Security Programme (ZPSP). He writes in a personal
capacity.
1