Zimbabwe’s new leader appoints Cabinet; ruling party favoured

Zimbabwe’s new President Emmerson Mnangagwa has appointed a new Cabinet that includes ruling party loyalists as well as figures linked to the military, whose takeover helped oust former leader Robert Mugabe. (Photo: UN Geneva/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

HARARE, Zimbabwe—Zimbabwe’s new President Emmerson Mnangagwa has appointed a new Cabinet that includes ruling party loyalists as well as figures linked to the military, whose takeover helped oust former leader Robert Mugabe.

No opposition politicians are included.

The 22-member Cabinet announced late Thursday on state-run television includes Maj. Gen. Sibusiso Moyo as foreign minister, Air Marshal Perrance Shiri as agriculture minister and Chris Mutsvangwa, leader of Zimbabwe’s war veterans, as information minister.

Moyo on Nov. 15 announced the military takeover that put Mugabe under house arrest and set in motion a national clamour leading to the former president’s resignation after 37 years in power.

Mugabe quit Nov. 21 amid impeachment proceedings. The ruling ZANU-PF party replaced him with Mnangagwa, a longtime Mugabe ally who was fired weeks ago as one of the country’s vice-presidents.

The list of Cabinet picks makes no mention of vice-presidents.

For some Zimbabweans who had hoped that the new leader would make the Cabinet more inclusive, Thursday night’s announcement was seen as a disappointment.

Lawyer Alex Magaisa tweeted a photo of Mugabe and his wife, Grace, laughing with the words “When they saw the new Cabinet.” Former finance minister Tendai Biti tweeted: “The honey moon is over even before it had begun. What a shame. What a missed opportunity.”