WATCH LIVE as Gambakwe unpacks the letter that has been written by Zimbabwe Junior soldiers to Mnangagwa. The letter, which has been published on X has the following contents:
Key Grievances (Problems Cited)
- Poverty and low pay: Junior officers live in abject poverty; salaries are insufficient for basic food, clothing, or medical care.
- No housing: Thousands live in overcrowded, dilapidated barracks or cannot afford private rental accommodation despite promises.
- Worthless currency: Salaries are paid in ZiG, which loses value immediately; officers cannot save or provide for families while politicians hoard foreign currency.
- Education unaffordable: Most cannot send their children to boarding school or even decent government schools.
- Senior generals compromised: Many senior officers have been bribed with farms, cars, and cash to serve ZANU PF instead of the army.
- Assassinations of generals: Serving and retired generals who refused bribes or spoke out against corruption have been systematically killed, with deaths covered up.
- ZANU PF lawlessness: Party leaders act as thugs, break laws, loot public funds, abuse power, intimidate citizens, and destroy national institutions.
- Corruption destroying everything: Theft of food aid, school/hospital funds, land, and minerals; politicians live as kings while the nation suffers.
Actions Required (Demands / Ultimatum)
- Stop all illegal constitutional amendments immediately, especially any attempt to alter Section 212 (which defines the mandate and independence of the defence forces).
- Pay decent salaries in hard currency that holds value, and provide proper housing and dignity to soldiers.
- Stop bribery of senior military leadership and stop the killings of serving and retired generals; bring those responsible to justice.
- ZANU PF leadership must stop breaking the law, stop looting public funds, and stop acting as thugs.
Warning
- The officers are loyal to Zimbabwe and the Constitution, not to any political party or individual.
- They have remained disciplined and patient for too long, but will no longer protect corrupt politicians from the consequences of their crimes.
- If the President and ZANU PF ignore the warning, proceed with illegal amendments, or continue making soldiers suffer and destroying the country, the resulting bloodshed, chaos, and collapse of the nation will be entirely on their hands.
- The oath to defend Zimbabwe comes before any order, any office, or any political party.
- Ignoring the letter is at the leadership’s own risk.
FULL LETTER
His Excellency President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa
President and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces
State House
Harare
Zimbabwe
1 June 2026
From: Junior Officers’ Collective – Zimbabwe Defence Forces
Representing all Junior Officers, Rank and File Personnel, drawn from all 10 Provinces of Zimbabwe
Subject: STRONG WARNING: OPPOSITION TO ILLEGAL CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS, DETAILED GRIEVANCES, AND ULTIMATUM TO YOUR OFFICE AND ZANU PF LEADERSHIP
Your Excellency,
We write this letter not as subordinates begging for favours, but as loyal sons and daughters of Zimbabwe, soldiers who swore to defend this nation and its Constitution – and who are now forced to speak out because the very foundation of our country, our army, and our livelihoods is being destroyed before our eyes. We represent every junior officer and service member across Harare, Bulawayo, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland Central, Manicaland, Masvingo, Midlands, Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South. We are united, we are watching, and we are issuing you a clear, final warning.
First and foremost: WE ARE FULLY AND FORCEFULLY OPPOSED TO ANY ILLEGAL AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF ZIMBABWE, and specifically we demand you STOP ANY ATTEMPT TO ALTER SECTION 212 OF THE CONSTITUTION IMMEDIATELY. Section 212 defines the mandate, independence and powers of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces; your plan to amend it is nothing but a cowardly plot by ZANU PF to strip the army of its authority, reduce it to a personal militia for politicians, and remove our ability to defend the constitution and the people against lawlessness. We will never accept this. The Constitution is supreme, and any change done outside proper law is null and void, and we will treat it as such.
We have remained quiet and disciplined for years, enduring suffering that no soldier who risks their life for this nation should ever endure. But our patience has run out. We lay bare the truth of what we face every day, and we warn you that these conditions, and the rot eating away at our nation, can no longer be ignored:
OUR GRIEVANCES AND COMPLAINTS
- We live in abject poverty
Despite risking our lives to protect this country, every junior officer across all provinces lives in poverty. We cannot afford basic food, clothing or medical care for our families. We serve the nation, yet we are poorer than the people we are sworn to protect. This is an insult to our uniform.
Soldiers 2.jpeg (continued)
- Salaries are a disgrace, not a living wage
Our salaries are so low they are an insult. You expect us to defend Zimbabwe, yet you pay us less than enough to survive. Prices of everything go up every day, while our pay remains stagnant. We work long hours, we deploy anywhere at any time, yet we are treated like we are worthless. - No housing, no accommodation, no dignity
For years you promised us decent housing. Today, thousands of us live in overcrowded, dilapidated barracks, or rent small, expensive rooms we cannot afford, because there is no accommodation provided. We have no homes to call our own, while ZANU PF officials build mansions and own multiple farms and houses stolen from the people. We serve, we suffer, they steal. - We are paid in useless, worthless ZiG currency
We receive our salaries in ZiG – a currency that loses value before we even leave the bank. By the time we buy basic goods, our money is worth nothing. We cannot save, we cannot plan, we cannot provide for our families, because the money you force us to accept is trash. You pay us with fake money while you and your cronies hoard US dollars and foreign currency. This is theft. - We cannot even afford to send our children to school
Because of your poor salaries, most of us cannot send our children to boarding school – even government schools are too expensive. Our children are forced to attend overcrowded local schools with no resources, while children of politicians and senior officials go to expensive private schools or study abroad. We fight for this nation, yet our own children are denied a decent future. This is unjust and unacceptable. - Senior Generals are being bribed and compromised
We see everything. We know that many senior Generals have been bought off by ZANU PF politicians. They are given farms, cars, cash and luxury lives to keep quiet, to follow orders that break the law, and to betray the soldiers under their command. They no longer speak for the army – they speak for ZANU PF. They have sold their honour and our welfare for personal gain. We will no longer respect leaders who are nothing but bribed puppets. - Our senior Generals are being assassinated
We know the truth about what is happening. Senior Generals who stood for the Constitution, who refused to be bribed, or who spoke out against corruption, have been systematically assassinated. We have lost brave leaders who only wanted what is best for the army and Zimbabwe – and their deaths were covered up as accidents or natural causes. We know who is responsible, and we will not forget. - Retired Generals are also being targeted and killed
Even after leaving service, Generals who served this nation with honour are being hunted, harassed and assassinated. You treat heroes of our liberation and defence as enemies, simply because they will not bow to corruption or ZANU PF’s illegal orders. This is a crime against our history and our nation, and it will not go unanswered.
Soldiers 3.jpeg (continued)
- ZANU PF leadership are law-breakers and thugs
We warn you clearly: ZANU PF leaders are acting like common thugs, not public servants. They break every law in the book, they loot public funds, they abuse power, they beat and intimidate citizens, and they put the interests of their party above the interests of Zimbabwe. You are leading this country into ruin, and you hide behind the army to protect yourselves from the anger of the people. We are soldiers, not bodyguards for corrupt politicians. - Corruption by ZANU PF officials is destroying everything
Everywhere we look, it is corruption, corruption, corruption. ZANU PF thugs steal food aid, steal funds meant for schools and hospitals, steal land, steal minerals, and live like kings while the whole country suffers. We are tired of protecting a government that robs its own people. We are tired of seeing everything good in Zimbabwe destroyed by greed.
OUR CLEAR WARNING
Your Excellency, and to all ZANU PF leaders: We are loyal to Zimbabwe and the Constitution, NOT to any political party or individual. We have remained disciplined and patient for too long, while you abused that discipline to enrich yourselves and destroy our nation.
We warn you now:
- STOP all plans to amend the Constitution immediately. We will never accept any illegal changes, and we will defend the Constitution with everything we have. Especially: DO NOT touch Section 212 – if you reduce the powers or independence of the army, you will be crossing a line that cannot be uncrossed.
- Stop treating us like slaves. Pay us decent salaries in hard currency that holds its value, build us proper housing, and give us the dignity we deserve as defenders of this nation.
- Stop the bribery of our senior leadership, stop the killings of serving and retired Generals, and bring those responsible to justice. We will not stand by while our leaders are murdered for doing their duty.
- ZANU PF leadership: STOP breaking the law, STOP looting, STOP acting like thugs. You are the biggest threat to Zimbabwe’s peace and stability, and we will no longer protect you from the consequences of your own greed and crimes.
We are united across all 10 provinces, we are the backbone of the Defence Forces, and we are no longer afraid to speak or act. If you ignore this warning, if you proceed with illegal amendments, if you continue to make us suffer and destroy our country, the bloodshed, the chaos and the collapse of this nation will be entirely on your hands.
We have sworn an oath to defend Zimbabwe. That oath comes before any order, any office, or any political party. Do not test our loyalty. Ignore this letter at your own risk.
Yours in warning and duty,
Soldiers 4.jpeg (signatures)
Representative – Tharare Province
Representative – Bulawayo Province
Representative – Mashonaland East Province
Representative – Mashonaland West Province
Representative – Mashonaland Central Province
Representative – Manicaland Province
Representative – Midlands Province
Representative – Matabeleland North Province
Representative – Matebeleland South Province
Representative – Masvingo Province
