"Americans Say We Can Appoint Ex-Army People To Run Civilian Companies"
The elite Presidential Guard stands guard, watching the Independence flame burning during celebrations in Harare earlier this year. The army is Mugabe's principal source of power and he has rewarded them very well, to the extent that retired personnel are deployed into the boards of civilian companies owned and run by the government. The State now says this is ok and points to comments by an American Defence Attache as proof that this is accepted practice worldwide, even in the States Harare, Zimbabwe, 04 November 2009 It is called clutching at straws. State media has been sent in to try and dampen criticism of the militarisation of Zimbabwe's government companies by using the statements of a former American soldier as a crutch to support Mugabe's patronage system. Lieutenant-Colonel Patrick Anderson, the Defence Attache at the American Embassy, delivered a speech at the Food For Thought workshop run by the American Embassy in Harare yesterday. He spoke about former Ameri...