The Joint Operations Command (JOC) is the supreme organ for the coordination of state security in

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

. It was established by the

Rhodesian Security Forces The Rhodesian Security Forces were the military forces of the Rhodesian government. The Rhodesian Security Forces consisted of a ground force (the Rhodesian Army), the Rhodesian Air Force, the British South Africa Police, and various personnel ...

Combined Operations Headquarters Combined Operations Headquarters was a department of the British War Office set up during Second World War to harass the Germans on the European continent by means of raids carried out by use of combined naval and army forces. History The comm ...

to supervise its

counter-insurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN, or NATO spelling counter-insurgency) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the ac ...

campaign in the

Rhodesian Bush War The Rhodesian Bush War, also known as the Rhodesian Civil War, Second as well as the Zimbabwe War of Independence, was a civil conflict from July 1964 to December 1979 in the List of states with limited recognition, unrecognised country U.D.I. ...

as well as external incursions into neighbouring countries such as

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

and

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

. The JOC retained its role in the post-independence

Zimbabwe Defence Forces The Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) are the military forces responsible for the defence of Zimbabwe against external threats from other countries, and also to suppress internal armed factions. It is composed of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) and ...

, and has since been accused of manipulating elections and orchestrating

political violence Political violence is violence which is perpetrated in order to achieve political goals. It can include violence which is used by a State (polity), state against other states (war), violence which is used by a state against civilians and non-st ...

2008

The JOC was headed in 2008 by Minister of State Security Didymus Mutasa, but he was replaced soon after the Zimbabwean presidential election held on 29 March 2008, by the Minister of Rural Housing and Social Amenities

Emmerson Mnangagwa Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa ( , ; born 15 September 1942) is a Zimbabwean politician who has served as the president of Zimbabwe since 2017. A member of ZANU–PF and a longtime ally of former president Robert Mugabe, he held a series of cabin ...

. The JOC has been accused of organising repression campaigns against both opposition partisans, civil society and the U.S. ambassador. It has been claimed that in the wake of the Zimbabwean presidential election, the JOC de facto took over control of the day-to-day decision-making of government, effectively operating as a military junta. The JOC has also been implicated in the violent suppression of opposition supporters between the 29 March election and the runoff election in July 2008. It has come under scrutiny from members of the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

of the ZANU-PF.

Membership

Members and former members included: *

Oppah Muchinguri Oppah Chamu Zvipange Muchinguri-Kashiri (born 14 December 1958) is a Zimbabwean politician who serves as minister of defence in the cabinet of Zimbabwe since 2018. She has also served as Minister of Higher Education and Minister of Women's Affa ...

– Minister of Defence * General

Philip Valerio Sibanda Philip Valerio Sibanda (born 24 December 1954) is a decorated Zimbabwe general who has served as commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces since December 2017. He was promoted from lieutenant general to full general at that time. As lieutenant gen ...

– Commander of the

* Lieutenant General Edzai Chimonyo – Commander of the

Zimbabwe National Army The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) is the primary branch of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces responsible for land-oriented military operations. It is the largest service branch under the Zimbabwean Joint Operations Command (JOC). The modern army h ...

* Air Marshal (Elsen Moyo) – Commander of the

Air Force of Zimbabwe The Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ) is the air force of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. It was known as the Rhodesian Air Force until 1980. The Air Force of Zimbabwe saw service in the Mozambican Civil War in 1985 and the Second Congo War of 1998– ...

* Commissioner Godwin Matanga – Commissioner of the

Zimbabwe Republic Police The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) is the national police force of Zimbabwe, having succeeded the British South Africa Police on 1 August 1980. History The predecessor of the Zimbabwe Republic Police was the British South Africa Police of ...

* Major General (Ret.) Paradzayi Zimondi – Head of the Zimbabwe prison service * Isaac Moyo – Director-General of the

Central Intelligence Organisation The Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) is the national intelligence agency of Zimbabwe. It was conceived as the external intelligence-gathering arm of the British South Africa Police Special Branch in the early 1960s, under the Southern Rh ...

John Mangudya John Panonetsa Mangudya (born 5 October 1963) is a former governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe. He was appointed in March 2014 by the then Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe, and began his tenure as governor on 1 May that year. His second 5 ...

– Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe * Brigadier-General Douglas Nyikayaramba

Proposed restructuring

According to the deal arising out of political negotiations between the three largest political parties, the JOC was to be renamed the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

. It was to be chaired by

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 th ...

and the former

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Morgan Tsvangirai Morgan Richard Tsvangirai (; ; 10 March 1952 – 14 February 2018) was a Zimbabwean politician who was Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 2009 to 2013. He was president of the Movement for Democratic Change, and later the Movement for Democrati ...

, was to be a sitting member.

References

External links

Observer (2009-02-15): Power sharing in Zimbabwe threatened by five-man cabal.
{{Military of Zimbabwe Military of Zimbabwe Politics of Zimbabwe