via Mugabe’s Cabinet reshuffle fails to impress – DailyNews Live 13 DECEMBER 2014
HARARE – President Robert Mugabe swore in eight new Cabinet ministers yesterday following a brutal and ongoing purge in the ruling party that has so far seen former vice president Joice Mujuru and eight ministers being fired.
But analysts and political figures described the major Cabinet shake-up and the “new” appointments as all akin to “putting stale, old wine in tired old bottles”.
Firebrand war veteran Margaret Dongo said Zimbabwe was trapped in a vicious cycle of retrogressive political patronage.
“The ministers who are there are serving at the pleasure of the President. There is nothing new but the same old stock.
“What I expected was a new clean Cabinet, but the return of people like Saviour Kasukuwere who has been fingered in mismanaging indigenisation, and Ignatius Chombo, whose riches were exposed by his ex-wife, shows that Gushungo is not serious.
“My fear is the old guys will contaminate the new-comers,” Dongo said.
Analyst Shepherd Mntungwa said, “I’m completely under-whelmed by the reshuffle and the so-called new Cabinet appointments as virtually all of them are not so new.
“It’s all akin to putting stale, old wine in tired old bottles and expecting that it will make a difference”.
Maxwell Saungweme, a Harare-based political analyst, said the Cabinet reshuffle was carried out not because of a desire to rescue the country from the edge of the threatening precipice, but simply to punish Mujuru and her allies.
“In terms of government business and the economy, it is fool-proof that the whole Zanu PF Cabinet that was there was under-performing and the country’s economic indicators have basically regressed since the formation of this Cabinet last year.
“So in terms performance of the Cabinet, there is nothing much that will change. Remember this Cabinet reshuffle has nothing to do with the under-performance of the fired ministers, but everything to do with Mugabe’s paranoia and insecurity in his own party which he has taken to Cabinet and the government of the country,” Saungweme said.
Revered war veteran Rugare Gumbo — the expelled former Zanu PF spokesperson and former Dare reChimurenga member — said he wished Mugabe’s new team well.
However, he added, the team would be unable to tackle and overcome the myriad challenges confronting Zimbabwe.
“There are no new faces equal to the present challenges,” Gumbo told the Daily News.
Asked to comment on new first Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, he said, “As far as Mnangagwa is concerned we all know his positive and negative contributions to the country and I have nothing much to say.
“He has been there since 1980, so what can you expect from him. I don’t think he can deliver economically.
“As for Phelekezela Mphoko, I knew him from the war. We worked with him very well. He was a member of Zipra who was in Zipa. He was one of the commanders. With respect to their performances, I cannot tell. But I think it will be very difficult,” he added.
The former minister of Agriculture, who has had a love-hate relationship with Mugabe since he was thrown into a pit in 1978, said the new appointments were not likely to improve the lives of poverty-stricken Zimbabweans.
“With the Cabinet, I am afraid I don’t think they can deal with the country’s economic situation. It is, however, for the people to judge but these ministers are unlikely to deliver,” he said.
After purging Mujuru and her allies from Cabinet earlier this week, Mugabe appointed Mnangagwa as his first vice president, with career diplomat Mphoko coming in as the second deputy.
And as Mnangagwa left State House after he was sworn in yesterday, he told journalists that he was ecstatic about his meteoric rise, which had seen him go “from a terrorist, to a prisoner, condemned prisoner, to vice president of Zimbabwe”.
“I am elated that I have been elevated to be vice president of the Government of Zimbabwe. I am a bigger servant to the people than before,” Mnangagwa said.
“As you can see most of the family is around and they are happy and I believe you (journalists) are happy too,” he added.
On his part, Mphoko said the president had chosen him “out of his wisdom” and he was ready to work with the nonagenarian to the best of his abilities.
“I am very honoured to be made VP after being a diplomat. I feel challenged. Well, the president is a very wise man.
“He knows what he wants, he reads from the face and what you say and then he makes a decision. So he is a very wise man and that is why he settled on me,” he said.
He said the new presidium would be a formidable force because it consisted of people with a rich history in the party and government.
The VP post, he added, was also not a job for the boys, as it was very demanding.
“I have always said when you are VP it’s not a retirement post nor is it a holiday but a challenging post.
“This is an office which belongs to the president, so I have to work with the big man. I don’t have the command, the command is from the big man.
“The experience that I have is not very different from the assignments that I will get because I was a fighter, diplomat and now VP. All that put together is a long experience.
“I must also say I have an advantage because we have a similar history with Mnangagwa. We worked together in the intelligence. He was the minister and I was an operative.
“The combination of his experience and that of the big man and I will be indeed a formidable force,” Mphoko said.
While Mugabe has not yet appointed a Women’s Affairs minister, the former occupant of that post, Oppah Muchinguri, said it was up to Mugabe to decide when to do so, although she would be happy to see First Lady Grace Mugabe replace her.
Muchinguri is now Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education which was previously held by Olivia Muchena who is part of the purged crew accused of being loyal to Mujuru.
“I will not be surprised if she (Grace) replaces me but she needs our prayers because men in Zimbabwe are stubborn in terms of appreciating that women are also capable. They (men) are not yet ripe for that,” Muchinguri said.
She said Mujuru had allegedly let women down by expending her energy on fighting other women, particularly herself.
Former Manicaland minister and new Indigenisation minister Chris Mushohwe said he would push for broad-based empowerment that would see unemployed youths benefit.
“The question is, are the youths being empowered? Is Zimbabwe being empowered? Those are things we should look at.
“If we talk of the empowerment of the greater society, our people must benefit. We need to talk of who is empowered,” Mushohwe said.
“We cannot talk of empowerment when a small section, when elitists are being empowered. We want to see the generality of the people, school-leavers from universities who are roaming the street, being empowered. When they are roaming the streets with skills, who are we empowering?
“When we are talking of empowering youths what are we talking about? The most important empowerment to youths is to first make sure that they have the requisite skills before we dole out the money,” he said.
New ICT minister Supa Mandiwanzira said he wanted to improve e-learning and make sure that every school in Zimbabwe had computers.
Among the ministers who have been appointed in the reshuffle are Prisca Mupfumira, who replaces Nicholas Goche as the minister of Public Service, and Samuel Udenge who replaces Dzikamai Mavhaire as the minister of Energy and Power Development.
LIST OF VPs AND NEW MINISTERS
Name and portfolio
E Mnangagwa: Vice President
P Mphoko: Vice President
P Mupfumira: Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Services
O Muchinguri: Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development
S Udenge: Minister of Energy and Power Development
C Mushohwe: Minister of Youth Development, Indegenisation and Economic Empowerment
S Mandiwanzira: Minister of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services
C Mutsvangwa: Minister of Welfare Services for War Veterans, War Collaborators, Former Political Detainees and Restrictees
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