Perence Shiri

Perence Shiri
Born	11 January 1955
Allegiance	Zimbabwe
Service/branch	Air Force of Zimbabwe
Rank	Air Marshal
Commands held	Zimbabwean Fifth Brigade Air Force of Zimbabwe
Awards	Grand Commander of the Zimbabwe Order of Merit [1]

Air Marshal Perence Shiri (born 11 January 1955^[2]) is the current commander of the Air Force of Zimbabwe^[3] and a member of the Joint Operations Command which exerts day-by-day control over Zimbabwe's government.^[4]

Perence Shiri is a cousin of President Robert Mugabe.^[5] He has called himself Black Jesus,^[6] because according to an anonymous claim on BBC Panorama documentary "The Price of Silence", he "could determine your life like Jesus Christ. He could heal, raise the dead, whatever. So he claimed to be like that because he could say if you live or not."^[7]

Military and political actions

From 1983 to 1984, the Zimbabwean Fifth Brigade, under Shiri's command, was responsible for a reign of terror in Matabeleland. During the slaughter, thousands of civilians were killed and thousands more were tortured. Despite this, in 1986, Shiri was granted a place at the Royal College of Defence Studies in London.^[8]

In 1992, Shiri was appointed as the commander of the Air Force of Zimbabwe, taking over from Air Chief Marshal Josiah Tungamirai.^[3]

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Shiri was reported to have organised farm invasions by war veterans.^[9] In 2002, in response to the subsequent food shortage, Mugabe dispatched Shiri to South Africa to purchase maize. This undertaking was backed by a credit note for the equivalent of £17 million from the Libyan leader, Colonel Gaddafi.^[5]

With the Mugabe government facing increasing problems, the Zimbabwean press reported in February 2007 that Shiri was regularly attending General Solomon Mujuru’s unofficial meetings with other senior military commanders and some political leaders. These meetings had discussed forcing Mugabe to the polls in 2008 with a view to his replacement as president.^[10]

In 2008 some Zimbabwean lawyers and opposition politicians from Mutare claimed that Shiri was the prime mover behind the military assaults on illegal diggers in the diamond mines in the east of Zimbabwe.^[11]

2008 election

In the days before the 2008 Zimbabwean presidential election Shiri, along with other Zimbabwean Defence chiefs, held a press conference where they stated that defence and security forces had been deployed across the country to maintain order. In a remark aimed against the Movement for Democratic Change, the defence chiefs stated that it would be a criminal act for anyone to declare himself the winner of the election. They maintained that such a statement must only be made by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.^[12]

Sanctions against Shiri

In 2002 the European Union barred Shiri from entering the EU^[13] and on 6 March 2003, George W. Bush ordered the blocking of any of Shiri's property in the United States.^[2]

Assassination attempt

Shiri was ambushed on 13 December 2008, while driving to his farm. According to police, he was accosted by unknown people who shot at his car. Thinking one of his tyres had burst he got out and was subsequently shot in the arm.^[14] It has been speculated that the assassination attempt may have been a response to Shiri's attacks on illegal diamond miners in 2008 or because of his role in Matabeleland in the 1980s.^[15]

References