Mugabe reshuffles cabinet but deadwood remains

By Lance Guma
07 February 2007

A cabinet reshuffle Tuesday deepened confusion over whether finance minister Herbert Murerwa had resigned or was fired by Mugabe. Online publication Zim Daily reported that Murerwa was last seen in his office last year and had already resigned his post because the Reserve Bank was usurping his powers as finance minister. Central Bank governor Gideon Gono is said to have had a public row with Murerwa in December last year. This infuriated Murerwa who considered Gono his junior both in terms of political stature and position in government. Former Minister of State for Indigenisation, Samuel Mumbengegwi takes over the job.

The reshuffle itself offered nothing new. The same old ministers were retained but moved around to different ministries. Former deputy minister of education Sikhanyiso Ndlovu becomes the new minister of information, while Paul Mangwana who previously held that position becomes Minister of State for Indigenisation and Empowerment. Sidney Sekeramayi remains Defence Minister, Didymus Mutasa- Security Minister and Ignatius Chombo- Local Government Minister. Agriculture minister Joseph Made has been shifted to the new Agriculture Engineering and Mechanisation ministry while his former deputy Sylvester Nguni has been put in charge of the Economic Development ministry.

The opposition meanwhile described the reshuffle as an attempt at ‘rearranging the deck of a sinking titanic.’ Nelson Chamisa the spokesman for the Tsvangirai MDC says the new cabinet has merely assembled the same ‘corrupt barons, racketeers and deadwood.’ He said the fact that the last three finance ministers from Nkosana Moyo, Simba Makoni and now Herbert Murerwa had all resigned showed a clear frustration with Mugabe’s policies.
‘Merely transferring faces from one ministry to the other will not resolve the country's political and economic crisis,’ Chamisa said. The MDC says what is needed is to address fundamental issues to do with institutions and structures running the country and this included crafting a political solution.