Interim Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa (centre) is sworn in
during a ceremony in Harare on November 24, 2017. He has named his
Cabinet. PHOTO | MUJAHID SAFODIEN | AFP
HARARE
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 the discredited Mugabe 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
Robert Mugabe quit the presidency.
DISMAY
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 Africa's 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.
"The bulk of members of the so
called new cabinet is from the old guard," said University of Zimbabwe
political scientist Eldred Masunungure.
"It
is like recycling dead wood. Essentially, this is like putting old wine
in new bottles," said opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
spokesman Obert Gutu.
However,
Mnangagwa dropped figures aligned to a rival faction in the ruling
Zanu-PF party who had backed Mugabe's 52-year-old wife Grace in a bid to
replace her husband.
Analysts said Chinamasa's return gave hope of positive reforms to the moribund economy.
Chinamasa
oversaw the reopening of talks this year with the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and the easing of the so-called indigenisation
policy which had scared away foreign investors.
"We
are likely to see economic reforms but very little on the political
front," said Zimbabwean Brian Raftopoulos who heads an advocacy
non-profit group the Solidarity Peace Trust.
'WE ARE DOOMED'
Zimbabwean citizens interviewed by AFP said they found the new government's lineup to be uninspiring, even disastrous.
Many
are yearning for a clean break from Mugabe's 37-year rule, which left
the country with a crippled economy, high unemployment and emigration,
and marred by allegations of rights abuses and election-rigging.
"We
thought we are going to have a new Zimbabwe after Mugabe's fall but it
seems there is nothing new. The same failed ministers have been
re-appointed. It is sad. We are doomed," lamented Tererai Moyo, a
37-year-old florist in the capital Harare.
In
his inaugural address last week Mnangagwa vowed to make sweeping
changes in government and new policies to attract investment and revive
the ailing economy.
But for some, the new cabinet line-up did not come as surprise.
They
saw Mnangagwa, who is serving out the remaining months of Mugabe's
term, as playing a longer game, surrounding himself with people who will
help him win general elections that due by next August.
Mnangagwa did not include figures from the opposition despite his pledge to a "new and unfolding democracy".
NEGATIVE INDICATOR
"The
makeup of this cabinet does not reflect the sentiment expressed in his
inaugural address in terms of a move towards inclusivity. This is
certainly a negative indicator," said Pigou.
"Those
who naively thought that a revolution took place will be disappointed
by the reassertion of power by the military deep state and the attempt
to re-establish unity within Zanu-PF, without representation for the
youth or opposition politicians," said Hasnain Malik of the UK-based
emerging and frontier markets investment bank Exotix Capital, in a note.
"The
honeymoon is over, we are going to see a tough Zanu-PF coming out of
this especially if you consider the history of some of those
individuals," Esterhuyse said.
Leaders
of the 1970's liberation war against colonial rule, who spearheaded
mass protests to force Mugabe out of office, were also awarded cabinet
positions. They include Chris Mutsvangwa, the leader of the war
veterans, who has become information minister.
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