Major General Engelbert Rugeje is the Chief of Staff of the Zimbabwe National Army. He was born in Bikita, Charamba Village, he's an heir of the Charamba family who of the Duma clan(Rozvi Kingdom)and educated at Silveira Mission where he excelled before he joined the ZANLA guerrilla freedom fighters at the age of 16. Rugeje aka Sunbat rose within the ZANLA forces to become a member of the General Staff or commander. His exploits at the battle front were heroic. The charismatic soldier was attested into the new Zimbabwe National Army as the youngest major in 1980. In 1983 he was promoted to Lt Colonel and became a Colonel in 1987. Rugeje led a team of expert to quash the ZIPRA rebellion in Matabeleland from 1983 to 1987 when he was commander at Inkomo Barracks (1 Mechanised Battalion). Rugeje was successful in leading missions against the Mozambique National Resistance (RENAMO) as he was commander of 1 Commando at that time and crashed a revolt by the MNR from his base in Tete Province. In 1990 he was promoted to Brigadier General and became Quarter Master of the ZNA. He was actively involved in the DRC mission where he led successful counter insurgency missions. Rugeje graduated at Lancaster University with a Masters in Defense & Strategic Studies, Masters in Law and MBA from Havard. In 2000 he was promoted to Major General becoming the 4th in Command of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. Rugeje, ZNA spokesman Ben Ncube, and Air Vice-Marshal Elson Moyo were "allegedly" arrested on June 7, 2007 along with almost 400 soldiers for allegedly plotting to overthrow the Mugabe administration. Rugeje is being called the "brains" of the attempted coup d'état.[1][2][3]
On October 24, 2006 he praised cooperation between the military of Zimbabwe and the Chinese People's Liberation Army.[4]