MAIDEN CABINET PICK
Zimbabwes new leader under fire
AFP
HARARE: Zimbabwes new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, came under fire yesterday for unveiling a debut cabinet that named two military allies to top positions, reappointed figures from the discredited Mugabe era and sidelined the opposition, reports AFP.
Mnangagwa gave key jobs to two top military officers, including Sibusiso Moyo, a major general who on November 15 went on state TV to announce the militarys takeover -- a power grab which climaxed a week later when Robert Mugabe quit the presidency.
According to a statement released late Thursday, Moyo was appointed foreign minister while the long-serving airforce commander, Perence Shiri, became minister of lands and agriculture, a vital job following the controversial seizure of land from white farmers nearly two decades ago.
Observers sharply criticised the lineup, and the choices drew groans of dismay from many Zimbabweans.
The deployment of senior members of the military into the cabinet is profoundly shocking, said Piers Pigou of the Brussels-based think tank, the International Crisis Group (ICG). Their appointment suggests the army has gained so much influence in government, it is going to start to dominate government, said Abel Esterhuyse, a strategy professor at South Africas Stellenbosch University.
Mnangagwa, 75, was sworn in last Friday after the takeover, which the military said aimed at arresting criminals in government around the 93-year-old Mugabe.
His cabinet also retains many faces from the Mugabe regime, including the finance minister, Patrick Chinamasa, and Home Affairs Minister Obert Mpofu.
