Mugabe makes more unilateral appointments

By Fortune Tazvida

Growing evidence that Zimbabwe’s coalition government is a sham came to the fore last week Wednesday when President Robert Mugabe gazetted more unilateral appointments and reshuffles of the country’s diplomats without consulting his coalition partners in the two MDC formations.

Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to the United Nations for the past seven years Boniface Chidyausiku has now been recalled back home and will be stationed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs head office in Harare. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry Joey Bimha confirmed the reshuffle.

“The President has reassigned ambassadors who are already serving to other stations,” Bimha said. But the use of the word ‘restructure’ appears a calculated attempt to avoid having to explain why the MDC parties in the coalition have had no say in the decisions despite the power sharing agreement stating so.

When the issue of appointing ambassadors from the two MDC formations was the source of many disputes in the past Mugabe pledged to appoint diplomats from the two parties ‘as vacancies arose.’ This is clearly not happening as he swiftly replaced Chidyausiku with Chitsaka Chipaziwa, who was Zimbabwe’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva.

Chipaziwa in turn will be replaced by Ambassador James Manzou who, prior to his reassignment, headed Zimbabwe’s mission in Angola. Meanwhile Simon Khaya Moyo, who was Zimbabwe’s envoy to South Africa, has also left the foreign service to work full time at the ZANU-PF Headquarters in Harare following his election as party national chairman last year.

Again no one from the two MDC formations has got within a sniff of that position. Instead Mugabe who views South Africa as his key ally in the region has already appointed Phelekezela Mphoko, who was Zimbabwe’s top diplomat in Moscow, Russia.

Mugabe also appointed Mary Mubi, who has been the country’s representative in Sweden, to represent the country in Italy and at the Food and Agriculture Organisation headquartered in Rome. Mubi takes over from Margaret Muchada, who is yet to be re-assigned. Former Ambassador to Australia Stephen Chiketa has been moved to Stockholm, Sweden, to take over from Mubi.

In May this year Mugabe buried any notion the coalition was working properly when he appointed a new Supreme Court judge and four High Court judges, without the knowledge of his MDC partners in government. To emphasize his powers further Mugabe also promoted ‘election rigger’ Retired Brigadier General George Chiweshe as the new High Court Judge President.

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