Chimwenje was a

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

an militant organisation based in

Manica Province Manica is a province of Mozambique. It has an area of 62,272 km² and a population of 1,945,994 (2017 census). The province is surrounded by Zimbabwe in the west, Tete Province in the northwest, Sofala Province in the east, Save River in t ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

. Its leader was Armando Mabache. The movement allegedly enjoyed a close association with

RENAMO RENAMO (from the Portuguese , ) is a Mozambican political party and militant group. The party was founded with the active sponsorship of the Rhodesian Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) in May 1977 from anti-communist dissidents oppose ...

, a right-wing Mozambican political party and former insurgent force. Armando Mabache was a former RENAMO general who was dismissed as part of a general demobilisation campaign following the end of the

Mozambican Civil War The Mozambican Civil War ( pt, Guerra Civil Moçambicana) was a civil war fought in Mozambique from 1977 to 1992. Like many regional African conflicts during the late twentieth century, the Mozambican Civil War possessed local dynamics but was a ...

. Chimwenje's recruits were also trained by RENAMO militia troops. Aspects of Chimwenje's ideology and agenda remain unclear. It was dedicated to toppling Zimbabwean President

Robert Mugabe Robert Gabriel Mugabe (; ; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017. He served as Leader of the ...

, and first entered prominence in mid-1995. The group retained somewhat ambiguous political ties to prominent Zimbabwean opposition leader

Ndabaningi Sithole Ndabaningi Sithole (21 July 1920 – 12 December 2000) founded the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), a militant organisation that opposed the government of Rhodesia, in July 1963.Veenhoven, Willem Adriaan, Ewing, and Winifred Crum. ''Cas ...

, and its ranks included several known associates of Sithole, including one of his former bodyguards. In October 1995 Sithole was arrested on suspicion that he was involved with a Chimwenje plot to assassinate President Mugabe. When questioned he expressed awareness of the militants and simply stated that they were Zimbabwean exiles who wished to return to their country. Chimwenje militants were believed to be training on Mozambican soil for cross-border raids into Zimbabwe. Following a number of clashes between the guerrillas and the

Mozambique Defence Armed Forces The Mozambique Defence Armed Forces ( pt, Forças Armadas de Defesa de Moçambique) or FADM are the national armed forces of Mozambique. They include the General Staff of the Armed Forces and three branches of service: Army, Air Force and Navy ...

(FADM) around early 1996, Mozambican President

Joaquim Chissano Joaquim Alberto Chissano (born 22 October 1939) is a politician who served as the second President of Mozambique, from 1986 to 2005. He is credited with transforming the war-torn country of Mozambique into one of the most successful African demo ...

announced he would seek the expulsion of Chimwenje from the country. In mid-1996, media reports surfaced that Chimwenje was planning a major offensive. The guerrillas began laying land mines across Manica Province, damaging some equipment owned by an Italian firm contracted to repair infrastructure destroyed by the recent civil war. In response, the Mozambican government agreed to coordinate preemptive border operations with Zimbabwean and

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

an security forces. The topic was discussed at a regional defence summit hosted by Malawi on July 10. Intelligence findings presented at the summit confirmed Armando Mabache as Chimwenje's leader. Around August, seven Chimwenje guerrillas, including two Zimbabwean nationals and five Mozambican nationals, were captured and given sentences of up to sixteen years' incarceration for crimes ranging from

mercenary A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...

activity to armed insurrection. Chimwenje was wiped out by joint operations carried out by the FADM and the

Zimbabwe Defence Forces The Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) are composed of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) and the Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ). As a landlocked country, Zimbabwe has no navy. The most senior commander of the ZDF is General Philip Valerio Sibanda. At the ...

in late 1996.

Sources

Institute for Security Studies: Zimbabwe - Security Information

References

{{Authority control Guerrilla organizations Terrorism in Zimbabwe Military history of Zimbabwe Rebel groups in Zimbabwe Paramilitary organisations based in Mozambique Mozambique–Zimbabwe relations Manica Province