Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa speaks during his inauguration ceremony at the National Sports Stadium in Harare, Zimbabwe, September 4, 2023.Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo/File photo Obtaining license rights
HARARE, Sept 11 (Reuters) – Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday appointed his son as deputy finance minister, retaining Mthuli Ncube as finance minister in a bid to rescue the country’s struggling economy.
The 80-year-old leader is under pressure to revive an economy hit by a lack of foreign investment, unemployment, high inflation and the local dollar, which has fallen 80% this year.
Mr Mnangagwa won a second term in a disputed vote last month, but opposition parties called it a “huge It was called “misconduct.”
Ncube, a former banker himself, has not escaped criticism after his economic policies failed to generate growth as more than $17 billion in foreign debt repayments fell behind.
Mr Mnangagwa announced the appointment of his son David Mnangagwa as Ncube’s deputy as part of the youth quota in parliament, while Soda Gem was appointed as the head of the Ministry of Mines.
Mr Zem replaced Mr Winston Chitando, who had led the ministry since November 2017, as Mines Minister. He had served as Minister of Energy and Power Development since 2020.
Mining generates more than half of Zimbabwe’s overseas export earnings, and Mnangagwa said the sector, which is attracting investors for lithium mines, will underpin future economic growth.
Oppa Muchinguri Kasiri, the national chairman of the ruling ZANU-PF party, has been reappointed as Minister of Defence.
“I have a supermajority and the opposition will be happy to actually be an opposition party and not a government,” Mnangagwa told reporters after announcing the cabinet list.
Reporting by Nyasha Chingono; Editing by Bhargav Acharya and Hugh Lawson
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