Published: 01 December 2017

President Emmerson Mnagangwa has delivered to some extent on a lean cabinet, reducing it from 26 to 22 and whittling away deputy ministers to six.

But its the composition has drawn some criticism for including two military figures in top posts.

Major General Sibusiso Moyo, the face of the military takeover and until then a relatively unknown figure, is the foreign affairs and international trade minister. He holds a PhD in international relations at one point was the leader of the elite green berets squad, the country's commandos.

The head of the air force, Perence Shiri, was named the minister of agriculture and land affairs. He was linked to the mass killings of ordinary Zimbabweans in the mid 1980s at the behest of Robert Mugabe, who resigned as president last week.

The military has had a controversial role in Zimbabwe's politics and had been accused of keeping Mr Mugabe in power.

The opposition had expected a role in the new cabinet but they have been left out.

Party members had said it would be suicidal to have a coalition so close to elections, which are expected mid next year.

While key shifts include getting rid of some of former President Mugabe's allies, a key indication of a break from the past is the scrapping of the indigenisation ministry.

It was responsible for enforcing the law which requires the ceding of majority stakes in foreign owned companies to black Zimbabweans.
- bbc

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