Zimbabwe's Mnangagwa gives key cabinet jobs to military figures
BBC.COM | Friday December 1, 2017 17:06
Mr Mnangagwa has made Sibusiso Moyo, the general who appeared on state TV after the recent military takeover, the new foreign minister.
The head of Zimbabwe's air force, Perence Shiri, was named the minister of agriculture and land affairs.
Mr Mnangagwa was sworn in last week after Robert Mugabe agreed to resign.
The man who ruled Zimbabwe for 37 years stepped down after the military intervened following the sacking of Mr Mnangagwa as vice-president.
Empty promise?
When Mr Mnangagwa swept into power with the help of the military last week, he promised a new era.
But the composition of his new cabinet has drawn some criticism because two military figures have top posts.
Maj-Gen Sibusiso Moyo, the face of the military takeover and until then a relatively unknown figure, is the foreign affairs and international trade minister. He holds a PhD in international relations and at one point was the leader of the elite green berets squad.
Airforce leader Perence Shiri was a soldier linked to the mass killings of ordinary Zimbabweans in the mid 1980s at the behest of then Prime Minister Robert Mugabe.
The military have had a controversial role in Zimbabwe's politics and had been accused of keeping Mr Mugabe in power.
Just two weeks ago many Zimbabweans were celebrating the so-called people's commander - Gen Constantino Chiwenga - for leading the military takeover which led to the change in leadership. Now they wait to see whether he will be rewarded with a vice-presidency.
While the new president has chosen to keep many of Mr Mugabe's former cabinet ministers in office, Mr Mnangagwa has also awarded positions to military leaders who have previously supported him.
Aside from Mr Moyo and Mr Shiri, leaders of the powerful war veterans' association, who pushed for Mr Mugabe to go after the military intervention, also got cabinet jobs.
Chris Mutsvangwa, who heads the group, is now in charge at the information ministry.
The appointments led government critic Tendai Biti to suggest that Zimbabweans were 'wrong' to have hoped for change.
'Up until now, we had given the putsch the benefit of the doubt. We did so in the genuine, perhaps naive view that the country could actually move forward. We craved change, peace & stability in our country. How wrong we were,' he said.
Newspaper owner Trevor Ncube said the cabinet was 'very disappointing'.
'Largely the same people that caused this crisis have been recycled. The honeymoon comes to an end and reality dawns. His concern seems to have been rewarding those who brought him to power and Zanu-PF unity,' he said.
Perence Shiri is a figure notorious for having led the military operation against opponents of Mr Mugabe in Matabeleland in the early 1980s.
The operation resulted in the killing of an estimated 20,000 civilians.
Mr Mnangagwa - who had fled Zimbabwe earlier this month only to return to a hero's welcome - has for decades been part of the country's ruling elite.
His dismissal as vice-president - after he was accused of plotting to take power - led the ruling party and the army to intervene.
On 14 November, army tanks rolled into Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, detaining Mr Mugabe and placing him under house arrest.
The military denied it that was staging a coup and maintained that it was acting against 'criminals' surrounding Mr Mugabe.
It came after a power struggle over who might replace the president, with Mr Mnangagwa and Mr Mugabe's wife, Grace, on opposite sides.
Despite pledging a 'new destiny' for Zimbabwe, Mr Mnangagwa is still associated by many with some of the worst atrocities committed under the ruling Zanu-PF party since the country gained independence in 1980.