Zimbabwe’s Mnangagwa drops Mugabe-era ministers, behold the new

September 7, 2018
Zimbabwe president Mnangagwa t | Report Focus News
Zimbabwe president Mnangagwa

Emmerson Mnangagwa named his new cabinet on Friday, dropping several ministers from former president Robert Mugabe’s era.

Mnangagwa included renowned swimmer Kirsty Coventry as the country’s minister of sports, youth, arts and recreation.

Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa has been replaced by Professor Mthuli Ncube, while the defence ministry will now be headed by Oppah Muchinguri.

According to the privately-owned Daily News, the ruling party was set to adopt a modus operandi that would give it more powers than the government.

Unnamed sources confirmed the development, adding that the president was going to “reassign many bigwigs” to the party’s headquarters, in a bid to strengthen and breathe new life into government, the report said.

“The changes are coming. What we are going to have is a situation whereby the old guard will go to the party and enjoy same perks as ministers.

“What we are saying is that the party is supreme to the government and the party must therefore have the power to recall some of the ministers from government,” an unnamed source was quoted as saying.

The party’s legal affairs chief, Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana, said the move would effectively make the ruling party bigger than government.