Constantine Chiwenga

General Constantine Chiwenga is Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.

Personal life
He was born in 1956 in Hwedza district of Mashonaland East Province. General Chiwenga was educated up to Form 4 at St Mary's Mission in Hwedza, together with Air Marshal Perence Shiri and Brigadier General Shungu, Commander Mechanised Brigade.

Rhodesian Bush War
He joined the war in 1973 and was trained in Mozambique as a ZANLA militant. Chiwennga adopted the war name of Dominic Kanenge. He rose through the ranks to become a Provincial Commander for Masvingo/Gaza Province deputised by George Chiweshe who was the Provincial Commissar. He was later promoted to the High Command in 1978 to the post of ZANLA Deputy Political Commissar as Josiah Tungamirai's deputy.

Career in the Zimbabwe military
Chiwenga was nearly ejected from staff college for cheating.

In 1981 he was attested to the newly formed Zimbabwe National Army as a brigadier commanding First Brigade in Bulawayo. He was later promoted to the rank of major general and reverted to his original name of Constantine Chiwenga. On the formation of Zimbabwe Defence forces (ZDF) in 1994 he was promoted to the rank of Lieuenant General and was appointed commander of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA). Upon the retirement of General Vitalis Zvinavashe in 2004, he was promoted to the rank of General and Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.

He is the chairman of the Joint Operations Command, which comprises the commanders of ZNA, Prison Services, Central Intelligence Organisation, Zimbabwe Republic Police and the Air Force of Zimbabwe. He participated actively during the Zimbabwe land reform programme and is a beneficiary with a thriving farm near Harare. He and his wife are also on the sanction list for those Zimbabwean officials not allowed to enter EU and the United States.