Zimbabwe

===Armed forces===
{{Main|Zimbabwe Defence Forces}}
[[File:Flag of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.svg|thumb|The flag of the [[Zimbabwe Defence Forces]]]]
The Zimbabwe Defence Forces were set up by unifying three insurrectionist forces – the [[Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army]] (ZANLA), the [[Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army]] (ZIPRA), and the Rhodesian Security Forces (RSF) – after the [[Second Chimurenga]] and Zimbabwean independence in 1980. The integration period saw the formation of the [[Zimbabwe National Army]] (ZNA) and [[Air Force of Zimbabwe]] (AFZ) as separate entities under the command of General [[Solomon Mujuru]] and Air Marshal [[Norman Walsh]], who retired in 1982 and was replaced by Air Marshal Azim Daudpota who handed over command to Air Chief Marshal [[Josiah Tungamirai]] in 1985. In 2003, General [[Constantine Chiwenga]], was promoted and appointed Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. Lieutenant General P. V. Sibanda replaced him as Commander of the Army.<ref name="minist">{{cite web|url=http://www.mod.gov.zw/zdf/zdf.htm |title=Zimbabwe Ministry of Defence|access-date=17 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071102151320/http://www.mod.gov.zw/zdf/zdf.htm|archive-date=2 November 2007}}</ref>

The ZNA has an active duty strength of 30,000. The Air Force has about 5,139 standing personnel.<ref name="Airforce of Zimbabwe">{{cite web|url=http://www.zimbabwedefence.com/AFZ0.html|title=Zimbabwe Defence Forces News|publisher=ZDF News|access-date=17 April 2009}}</ref> The [[Zimbabwe Republic Police]] (includes Police Support Unit, Paramilitary Police) is part of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces and numbers 25,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zimbabwejournalists.com/story.php?art_id=3364&cat=4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080105170018/http://www.zimbabwejournalists.com/story.php?art_id=3364&cat=4|archive-date=5 January 2008|title=MILITARISATION OF ZIMBABWE: Does the opposition stand a chance?|author=Chari, Freeman Forward|publisher=zimbabwejournalists.com|date=24 December 2007}}</ref>

Following majority rule in early 1980, [[British Army]] trainers oversaw the integration of guerrilla fighters into a [[battalion]] structure overlaid on the existing Rhodesian armed forces. For the first year, a system was followed where the top-performing candidate became battalion commander. If he or she was from ZANLA, then his or her second-in-command was the top-performing ZIPRA candidate, and vice versa.<ref>{{cite book|first=Peter|last=Godwin|author-link=Peter Godwin (writer)|year=1996|title=Mukiwa – A White Boy in Africa|isbn=978-0-333-67150-4|publisher=Macmillan|location=London, UK}}</ref> This ensured a balance between the two movements in the command structure.

The ZNA was originally formed into four [[brigade]]s, composed of a total of 28 battalions. The brigade support units were composed almost entirely of specialists of the former Rhodesian Army, while unintegrated battalions of the [[Rhodesian African Rifles]] were assigned to the 1st, 3rd and 4th Brigades. The Fifth Brigade was formed in 1981 and disbanded in 1988 after the demonstration of mass brutality and murder during the brigade's occupation of Matabeleland in what became known as ''Gukurahundi''.<ref name="watch" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mod.gov.zw/army/zna.htm|title=Ministry of Defence, Zimbabwe|access-date=11 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071102184314/http://www.mod.gov.zw/army/zna.htm|archive-date=2 November 2007}}</ref> The brigade had been re-formed by 2006, with its commander, Brigadier General John Mupande praising its "rich history".<ref name="Herald Reporter">{{cite news|url=http://www.zimbabwedefence.com/News_5th_Gets_Comm.html|publisher=Zimbabwe Defence Forces News|title=5th Brigade gets new commander|date=22 February 2006|access-date=18 April 2009}}</ref>