First, Henk and Rupiya (2001, 18) point to ‘‘an overwhelming proportion’’ of
spending that goes to salaries and personnel allowances in Africa. For example,
Zimbabwe has seen nearly 70 percent of expenditures go toward officer allowances
and was a typical case on a continent whose militaries are ‘‘chronically short of
ammunition, fuel, other basic supplies, and spare parts’’ (Henk and Rupiya 2001,
18). This trend is seen beyond Africa as well. Saudi Arabia, for example, illustrates
a coup-fearing leadership that ultimately became the highest per-capita defense
spender in the world; yet, as little as 5 percent of these expenditures were dedicated
to military hardware (Pollack 2002, 427). Instead, finances were mainly directed and
keeping soldiers happy, not skilled.