A military officer familiar with the planning of the operation told Human Rights Watch that an additional motivation for deploying the army was a plan by military intelligence to reward and appease an increasingly discontented army rank and file, who were poorly paid in the country’s severe political, social, and economic crisis. He told Human Rights Watch: Information from the Military Intelligence Department was that discontent in the army was a major threat to ZANU-PF’s hold on power. Hundreds of soldiers were resigning... [or] deserting with their weapons. Initially, the military leadership issued orders that soldiers were required to turn in their weapons. Another measure was to require [the] notice period for any person resigning from the army to be [increased to] nine months instead of the standard three months. Now the final strategy was to give the military direct access and control over [natural] resources. Some soldiers had been assigned to run Grain Marketing Board projects and RBZ’s farm mechanization, but it was not enough. Marange diamonds presented another opportunity for the military to benefit.81 Four soldiers told Human Rights Watch that the incentive package came in two parts. Soldiers on mission in Marange would first get special allowances directly from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and then be offered a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity to benefit directly from diamond smuggling. The plan was for all army units to rotate and take turns to “guard” Marange’s diamond fields and take the associated benefits. At the time of writing this report, five army units had, on a rotational basis, been deployed to Marange: the Mechanized Brigade; No.1 Commando Regiment; Fifth Brigade; Masvingobased 4 Brigade; and Mutare-based 3 Brigade.82 When Human Rights Watch visited Marange in February 2009, the army unit on deployment was 4 Brigade from Masvingo. It has since been replaced by Mutare’s 3 Brigade.83 A military officer who took part in Operation Hakudzokwi told Human Rights Watch that his regiment received a “signal” or directive from the Joint Operations Command ordering 81 Human Rights Watch interview with soldier S.R., Harare, February 2, 2009. 82 Human Rights Watch telephone interview with soldier S.R., Harare, May 31, 2009. 83 Ibid. 29 Human Rights Watch | June 2009