Zimbabwe: President Mnangagwa appoints son and nephew to key ministerial posts

Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday appointed his son, David Kudakwashe, as deputy finance minister, as part of parliament’s youth quota. A nomination which continues to cause a stir among public opinion.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa was accused of nepotism on Monday after appointing his son as deputy finance minister in the new government resulting from his controversial re-election. David Kudakwashe Mnangagwa, 34, will replace Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube, while the president’s nephew Tongai Mafidhi Mnangagwa has been named deputy minister of tourism and hospitality.

Fadzayi Mahere, a member of the Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC), said Mr Mnangagwa’s cabinet was “indefensible”. “It is a toxic mix of illegitimacy, corruption, violence, nepotism, incompetence and sex scandals – everything but the ethical leadership that Zimbabweans want and deserve. It is no wonder that the national mood is so funereal.”said Mr. Mahere.

Mr Mnangagwa also appointed a couple – Christopher and Monica Mutsvangwa – as ministers. Mr Mutsvangwa will head the new Ministry of Liberation Veterans, while his wife will be the new Minister of Women’s Affairs and SMEs.

David Mnangagwa, who graduated with a law degree from the University of Zimbabwe last Friday, entered parliament through the youth quota system, on a Zanu PF party ticket from the Midlands province. He is one of Mnangagwa’s approximately two dozen children. Tongai, meanwhile, is the Zanu PF MP for the Hunyani constituency. His late father, David, was Mnangagwa’s younger brother.

ZimLive sources said on Monday that Mr Mnangagwa was also considering giving an official role in his office to another of his sons, Emmerson Junior. “Emmerson Junior attended the president’s meetings with some foreign investors, an embarrassing arrangement. Mnangagwa now wants to formalize this situation and Junior will have an official role – advisor or director”said the source.