Mugabe keeps hardliners in Cabinet

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe announced his new Cabinet yesterday, firing the moderate finance minister but keeping hardliners who have spearheaded harsh media controls and seizures of white-owned farms in Zimbabwe.

Simba Makoni, the finance minister, had urged restraint in land seizures and firm action by authorities to end the political violence that has crippled the economy. He was replaced by Cabinet veteran Herbert Murerwa, shuffled from the Industry and Trade Ministry, state media reported.

Mugabe had dissolved his Cabinet on Friday, a long overdue move following his declared re-election in March.

According to Zimbabwean law, the president should have sworn in a new Cabinet within 30 days of the March 9-11 election, which was condemned by international and local observers as deeply flawed. Opposition officials have sharply criticised the increasingly authoritarian Mugabe for ignoring that and other laws. Mugabe is scheduled to swear in the revised line-up today.

Previewing yesterday’s announcement, state television praised Mugabe loyalists for their role in land seizures and breaking ties with the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and Western institutions. The announcement said Timothy Stamps, the health minister and only white in the Cabinet, was dropped for health reasons. Stamps suffered a stroke and has been unable to return to his office throughout this year.

Jonathan Moyo, architect of draconian media laws that have seen at least 12 independent-minded journalists arrested and charged this year, stays as information minister.

Zimbabwe, with famine looming in its worst economic crisis since independence in 1980, faces growing international isolation. Analysts had predicted Mugabe would follow increasingly tough policies alongside loyal hardliners rewarded by keeping their posts. They likened the shuffle to “moving the deckchairs on the Titanic.”