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The Elizabeth Valerio led opposition party United Zimbabwe Alliance {UZA} has castigated President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s newly appointed cabinet, citing irregularities within it.
In a statement, UZA rebuked Mnangagwa’s choice of appointing his son, David Kudakwashe Mnangagwa, as the Deputy Finance Minister, and his nephew Tongai Mafidhi Mnangagwa as Deputy Minister of Tourism and Hospitality, insisting that dynastic succession should be banished in Zimbabwe.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa with his son and nephew
Disgruntled, UZA added that Mnangagwa’s reshuffling of Ministers like Monica Mutsvagwa, Jennifan Muswere, Soda Zhemu and Winston Chitando will likely affect the growth of the economy.
“President Mnangagwa’s new cabinet fails to meet the expectations of many Zimbabweans who are suffering from a collapsing economy and a moribund local currency. Prices of basic commodities have been on an upward trend, pushing many Zimbabweans, especially the underprivileged into abject poverty.
“UZA had hoped President Mnangagwa’s cabinet would show, at least, his concern and efforts to turn around the economy and the fortunes of the people of Zimbabwe, especially young people who bear the brunt of rising unemployment. Instead, the newly appointed cabinet falls short in a number of respects, the following in particular:
“The President’s brazen display of nepotism by appointing his son David Kudakwashe Mnangagwa, as the Deputy Finance Minister, and his nephew Tongai Mafidhi Mnangagwa as Deputy Minister of Tourism and Hospitality is synonymous with dynastic succession and should never be condoned in a democratic Zimbabwe.
“President Mnangagwa’s cabinet essentially is a reshuffling of the same team that spearheaded the current economic meltdown. This will not move the nation forward. To achieve international standards, the President’s cabinet should be a platform that taps into the experiences of its appointed ministers. Experience, however, does not refer to the number of years one has spent in cabinet or to age,” reads the statement.
The opposition party also said the Zanu PF first secretary should have embraced gender parity in his new cabinet, because women are the majority of the country’s population.
“Women’s political participation and influence is a key factor in achieving gender parity. The gender regression in President Mnangagwa’s cabinet appears to disregard the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) which targets the integration of gender mainstreaming across all sectors building on government’s commitment towards the National Gender Policy, Gender Equality and Gender Responsive Budgeting Strategy.
“President Mnangagwa’s cabinet ministers include only 6 women and 20 men. This contradicts past government pronouncements and stakeholder efforts to achieve gender balance in the governance of Zimbabwe. Women and girls constitute 52% of our country’s population yet they continue to be underrepresented across key sectors resulting in limited opportunities to influence policy and access economic and legal protections. Women are also highly impacted by cultural and patriarchal barriers,” added UZA in a statement.
However, addressing top government officials in Harare on Thursday at the High-Level Government Retreat, President Mnangagwa seemed to have heeded some UZA proposals, as he said it was not ‘business as usual’ as collective implementation of policies should be the norm to achieve the expected goal.
He called for an open-door policy within his new government, which he said must be the norm, adding that stakeholder engagement and dialogue must be promoted.
“You, the incoming ministers and permanent secretaries, will be measured by the agility and innovativeness towards accelerating our economic growth, modernization, Industrialisation and global competitiveness.
“It is not ‘business as usual’. Hard, honest work should be ingrained at every level of our government. We must collectively implement bold policies to achieve impactful results. It is essential that the public sector now shifts from reporting on activities and tasks, to reporting on results, outputs and outcomes,” he said.