Zimbabwe’s new President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, came under fire on Friday for unveiling a debut cabinet that named two military allies to top positions, reappointed figures from Robert Mugabe’s discredited era and sidelined the opposition.
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 military’s takeover — a power grab which climaxed a week later when 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 many Zimbabweans groaned with dismay, but the Government defended the choices as balanced.
“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).