By Political Reporter- The state media has whitewashed the brutal legacy of Retired Brigadier General Victor Chikudo Rungani, who died Tuesday in Harare, erasing from public memory the terror he unleashed during Zimbabwe’s darkest political chapter.
Once one of the late President Robert Mugabe’s chief enforcers, Rungani orchestrated a campaign of violence during the 2008 elections that left scores of opposition MDC supporters dead, maimed, or psychologically scarred.
At the time, he was Director of the Zimbabwe National Army’s Engineering and Military Equipment Directorate.
But in the lead-up to the June 2008 run-off election, he was deployed to Mashonaland East, not to build—but to destroy.
There, Rungani personally directed torture sessions and killings, earning infamy as one of the architects of ZANU PF’s scorched-earth strategy to cling to power after Mugabe lost the first round to Morgan Tsvangirai.
State-owned media, however, only reported that Rungani died at Mbuya Dorcas Hospital in Waterfalls, portraying him as a decorated military man who bolstered engineering within the armed forces.
They omitted the blood on his hands.
CIO Minister Lovemore Matuke, confirming Rungani’s death, joined the chorus of silence, saying only: “I received the sad news from his wife,” without acknowledging the suffering the general inflicted.
Born in Bikita, Masvingo province, Rungani was a key cog in the Joint Operations Command (JOC)—the shadowy military cabal that hijacked Zimbabwe’s elections and democracy under the guise of defending sovereignty.
His death was first announced on social media by the Children of War Veterans Association (COZWVA), where his son, Hardlife Rungani, is an active member.
During the 2008 run-off, Rungani oversaw a reign of terror in Mashonaland East as part of a nationwide military offensive.
Villages were turned into zones of fear, with mass beatings, gang rapes, abductions, and re-education camps known as“pungwes” where MDC activists were tortured overnight.
He operated in tandem with a cast of infamous commanders: Major General Engelbert Rugeje in Masvingo, Brigadier General David Sigauke in Mashonaland West, Brigadier General Douglas Nyikayaramba in Manicaland, Air Vice Marshal Abu Basutu in Matabeleland South, Air Vice Marshal Henry Muchena in Harare, Brigadier General Sibusiso Moyo in the Midlands, Brigadier General Sibangumuzi Khumalo in Matabeleland North, Brigadier General Etherton Shungu in Mashonaland Central, Colonel Chris Sibanda in Bulawayo, and Air Commodore Mike Tichafa Karakadzai in Harare.
These men, backed by the Central Intelligence Organisation and more than 80,000 youth militia, launched an all-out war on dissent that ultimately forced Morgan Tsvangirai to withdraw from the run-off.
Their campaign was not just political—it was personal, brutal, and systematic. Rungani’s legacy is stained with the screams of those who were never allowed to vote freely.
While his death may signal the end of one man’s chapter, it reopens deep national wounds and reminds Zimbabwe that the architects of its pain have never been held accountable.
Rungani’s name, like those of his comrades, lives on—not in honour, but in infamy.