Zimbabwe’s president names top military officers in new cabinet

HARARE, Zimbabwe – Zimbabwe’s new president named his first cabinet Thursday, November 30, appointing two senior military officers to key portfolios and dropping close allies of Robert Mugabe who resigned after the armed forces took control of the country.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa appointed as foreign affairs minister Sibusiso Moyo, the army major general who went on state television announcing the military’s take-over, a dramatic powergrab which culminated in Mugabe stepping down a week later.

The long-serving airforce commander Perence Shiri also became the Lands and Agriculture minister, according to a statement released late Thursday night.

Mnangagwa however kept a sizable number of ministers from Mugabe’s former cabinet – including Patrick Chinamas who returns to the finance ministry from which he had been removed by Mugabe during a cabinet reshuffle in October.

War veteran leaders who spearheaded mass protests to force Mugabe out of office, 4 days after the military sent tanks to the streets of the capital Harare, were also awarded positions in the cabinet.

Chris Mutsvangwa is now the Information Minister while another became a deputy in the defense and security ministry.

The cabinet did not include figures from the opposition to Mugabe.

Mnangagwa, 75, was sworn in last Friday, November 24, following dramatic events in the southern African country after the military took over saying they wanted to arrest criminals in government around 93-year-old Mugabe.

Mugabe’s tenure withstood repeated claims of hanging on to power through brutal repression of dissent, election rigging and corruption, until concerted pressure from the military finally forced him to quit.

Parliament had begun proceedings to impeach Mugabe for allowing his wife Grace and a coterie of followers to “capture” the ruling Zanu-PF party.

Now the new president has vowed sweeping changes in government and new policies to attract investment and revive the ailing economy. – Rappler.com