President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has named his son, 34-year-old Kudakwashe Mnangagwa, as the deputy finance minister and his nephew Tongai Mnangagwa as deputy minister of tourism.
Mnangagwa announced his new cabinet yesterday.
Kudakwashe, a venture capitalist, made it into parliament under a youth quota for the Midlands province.
Mnangagwa has also retained Mthuli Ncube as the finance minister as he battles to rescue the country’s ailing economy.
“The 80-year-old leader is under pressure to rebuild an economy hit by lack of foreign investment, unemployment, high inflation and a local dollar which has plunged 80% this year,” Reuters reported.
Journalist Hopewell Chin’ono has since described Mnangagwa’s cabinet as the worst ever.
“President Mnangagwa has named probably the worst cabinet in Zimbabwe’s history retaining Mthuli Ncube as Finance Minister and the worst ever sports minister, Kirst Coventry,” Chin’ono posted on X.
Mnangagwa was elected for a second term last month but the opposition which is led by Nelson Chamisa of the Citizen’s Coalition for Change has described the election as a “gigantic fraud” and has demanded a fresh election.
Election observers say the election failed to meet regional and international standards.
