On the morning of May 4, 2026, the granite hills of Harare are echoing with the somber sounds of a military procession as the remains of Air Commodore (Retired) Simon Brian Bere are interred at the National Heroes Acre. Thousands have gathered at the national shrine, where the atmosphere is thick with a mixture of state-sanctioned mourning and a palpable, unspoken dread. For the public, it is a final farewell to a decorated liberation war veteran who joined the struggle at the age of 19. For the military establishment, however, the ceremony is a stark reminder of a growing list of senior officers who have met sudden and unexplained ends.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, accompanied by the First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa, is presiding over the interment. The presence of the Head of State, along with Vice Presidents Dr Kembo Mohadi, General (Retired) Constantino Chiwenga, and the top brass of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, underscores the national significance of the event. Yet, as the flag-draped casket is lowered, the questions that have been circulating in the barracks and on the streets of Harare for months remain unanswered. Bere, who passed away on April 24, 2026, while seeking medical treatment in Zambia, is the latest figure in a ledger of high-ranking officers whose deaths many find difficult to dismiss as mere coincidence.
The official narrative surrounding Bere’s death focuses on the frailty of health, yet the fact that such a senior officer felt the need to cross the border into Zambia for medical care has set tongues wagging. In a nation where poisoning has become a recurring theme in political discourse, seeking treatment abroad is often interpreted as a desperate flight from local facilities where “accidents” are known to happen. President Mnangagwa himself, when he was mysteriously food-poisoned at a Zanu PF star rally in Gwanda in 2017, General Constantino Chiwenga took the matter to his hands, ordered that one of the two helicopters that had flown President Robert Mugabe to the rally, be taken above the ground and fly the-then Vice President Mnangagwa to Gweru for an urgent medical attention, before being subsequently flown to South Africa where the poison was successfully flushed out.
General Chiwenga himself, mysteriously fell seriously ill in late 2018, before being admitted to hospital in South Africa, but to no avail. In early 2019, he was flown to India for emergency medical treatment regarding an undisclosed, severe abdominal ailment. He underwent treatment in Delhi but his health continued deteriorating before the Chinese government requested that he be brought to their military hospital in China. It was only then that the former military strongman recovered from an illness he later described as idiopathic oesophageal stricture.
So, in Zimbabwean politics, seeking medical attention outside the country has been the order of the day for many years. Former Prime Minister and opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, died on 14 February 2018 in South Africa while undergoing treatment for colon cancer. According to Nelson Chamisa and other opposition leaders, Tsvangirai’s death was due to foul play. Chamisa often recalled strongly warning Tsvangirai and Tendai Biti – who was the MDC-T Secretary-General and Minister of Finance at the time – against drinking tea during their weekly briefings with President Mugabe during the Government of National Unity (GNU).
Meanwhile, back in the barracks, the whispers are no longer about if there is a purge, but who might be the next to fall. When Air Commodore (Retired) Peter Gedion Sheik Zimondi in September 2024, Commander Air Force of Zimbabwe, Air Marshal Jacob John Nzvede expressed deep concern over the alarming rate at which his fellow military officers are passing away, describing the situation as “more painful to accept”.
Since the 2017 military coup that ousted President Mugabe, dozens of senior and retired generals have died, many of whom were instrumental in the very operation that brought the current administration to power.
Ironically, during the infamous coup announcement by Lieutenant-General Sibusiso ‘SB’ Moyo on state television, it was Air Marshall Nzvede who was seated next to SB Moyo, and the two military men became the face of the military coup that marked the end of the Mugabe era. General SB Moyo died on 20 January 2021, about six months after the death of his close ally, Air Marshall (Retired) Perrence Shiri who died on 29 July 2020.
The pattern of deaths amongst former and current senior ZDF bosses has become impossible to ignore. On January 15, 2025, the Zimbabwe National Army announced the passing of Major General (Retired) Solomon Siziba at the Josiah Magama Tongogara Camp. While the official cause was cited as a long battle with cancer, Siziba had only been promoted to his rank in November 2023. His death followed a string of others, including Air Commodore (Retired) Peter Gedion Sheik Zimondi in September 2024, and Brigadier-General Shadreck Vezha, who died in a head-on collision along the Harare-Bulawayo road in April 2024. The list continues with names like Brigadier General (Retired) Shadreck Ndabambi, Retired Brigadier-General Michael Chaminuka, and Colonel Andrew Kabaira, who passed away in July 2024.
To understand the gravity of these losses, one must look at the fractured landscape of Zimbabwean politics. At the heart of the mystery is an intense power struggle within the ruling ZANU-PF party, specifically the rivalry between President Mnangagwa and his deputy, Vice President General (Retired) Constantino Chiwenga. Mnangagwa, now 82, is widely believed to be orchestrating a plan to extend his presidency beyond the constitutional limit of 2028, a move known locally as the “ED2030” agenda. For Chiwenga, the man who led the 2017 coup and expects to succeed Mnangagwa, this agenda is a direct threat to his political future.
Investigative analysts suggest that the military, once a monolithic force, has been split into factions. The deaths of senior officers, many of whom are perceived as loyal to Chiwenga, are viewed by some as a “soft coup”—a systematic thinning of the Vice President’s support base within the security apparatus.
The most famous case of a mysterious death in military circles remains that of General Solomon Mujuru, the “kingmaker” who died in a mysterious fire at his farmhouse in 2011. An official inquest ruled that he died from “carbonisation” due to smoke inhalation, but the public and his family remained deeply sceptical. Mujuru was a powerful figure who could have challenged the status quo, and his death effectively cleared the path for his rivals. Today’s senior officers are well aware of this history, and they see the current wave of deaths as a continuation of the same ruthless political culture.
Poisoning has also returned to the forefront of political discourse. Rumours recently swirled around General Anselem Sanyatwe, the former Head of the Defence Forces who was moved to a cabinet role as Sports Minister. Reports alleged that Sanyatwe was poisoned at a public event in Nyanga and had to be flown to India for emergency treatment. While insiders claimed his trip was for “ongoing medical care” and dismissed the poisoning stories as “cheap politicking,” the perception remains. In Zimbabwe, perception often carries more weight than official denials. As one Harare-based analyst noted, “Poisoning rumours are not about evidence; they are about perception. And in Zimbabwean succession politics, perception is power.”
The rise of civilian outsiders in the political sphere has further unsettled the military elite. Kuda Tagwirei, a business mogul and close ally of President Mnangagwa, was formally inducted into the ZANU-PF Central Committee in August 2025. Tagwirei, often referred to as “Queen Bee” due to his immense influence over the economy, is seen by many in the military as a man without liberation credentials who is being groomed as a kingmaker. His ascent is viewed as a direct challenge to the military’s traditional role as the ultimate arbiter of Zimbabwean power.
For the rank and file of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, the psychological toll of these events is significant. Soldiers see their commanders dying not on the battlefield, but in hospital beds and car accidents. This creates a vacuum of leadership and a climate of fear and uncertainty. When the chain of command is constantly broken by “sudden illness,” the stability of the entire institution is called into question. The general public is left to grapple with the same fear, wondering if the forces meant to protect the nation are instead being consumed by internal strife.
The role of intelligence agencies and state actors in maintaining this secrecy cannot be overstated. Official pronouncements are often brief and lack detail, leaving a void that is quickly filled by speculation and conspiracy theories.
As the burial of Air Commodore Bere concludes at the National Heroes Acre on this May 4, 2026, the official speeches have been delivered and the nation has bid its farewell. But the questions remain. Was Simon Brian Bere truly a victim of failing health, or was he another casualty in a silent war for the soul of Zimbabwe?
