Zimbabwe's Mnangagwa gives key cabinet jobs to military figures
Zimbabwe's new president Emmerson
Mnangagwa has named his cabinet, appointing senior military figures to
high-profile positions.
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.
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.
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.
BBC
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