On December 6, 2012, General Chiwenga, army commander Gen. Phillip Valerio Sibanda, Air Force commander Air Marshal Perence Shiri, police Commissioner Gen. Augustine Chihuri, and head of prisons retired Maj. Gen. Paradzai Zimondi attended the ZANU-PF party annual conference in Gweru. At that conference, President Mugabe addressed some 6,000 party supporters.29 By association, the security sector commanders can be counted among the ranks of ZANU-PF supporters, and they have made no effort to conceal their support for the party. Since the inception of the power-sharing government, it has been clear on whose side the senior military officials are. For instance, in December 2012, recently promoted Maj. Gen. Douglas Nyikayaramba led a group of ZANU-PF-aligned war veterans and traditional chiefs in Chikomba, Mashonaland East province, to a meeting with the villagers at Firimoni Business Centre near Wedza, where he said voting for the MDC is selling out and that the army is ready to defend Mugabe.30 On June 6, 2012, a senior military officer, Maj. Gen. Trust Mugoba, while addressing mourners at the funeral of an army officer, said that military ideology is best represented in ZANU-PF’s mission and values.31 “As the military, we do not only believe, but act in defense of these values and we will not respect any leader who does not respect the revolution,” he said. A month earlier, on May 9, 2012, another top-ranking army officer, Maj. Gen. Martin Chedondo, told state media that soldiers in the country are supporters of Mugabe's ZANUPF party: As soldiers, we will never be apologetic for supporting ZANU-PF because it is the only political party that has national interests at heart. We cannot be seen supporting a political party that is going against the ideals of a nation, which came by as a result of a liberation struggle, which saw many of the country’s sons and daughters losing their lives. As soldiers we must “Biti slams army chiefs for attending ZANU- PF conference,” New Zimbabwe, http://www.newzimbabwe.com/news-9740Army%20chiefs%20at%20Zanu%20PF%20convention/news.aspx (accessed December 19, 2012). 29 30 Human Rights Watch interview with eyewitness, P.D, Harare, February 10, 2013. “Another military chief declares loyalty to ZANU-PF,” SW Radio Africa, June 6, 2012, http://www.swradioafrica.com/2012/06/06/another-military-chief-declares-loyalty-to-zanu-pf/ (accessed February 15, 2012). 31 THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM 18