Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa is facing harsh criticisms after appointing his own son as deputy minister to the country’s finance ministry.
The president also appointed his own nephew as a deputy minister, in addition to also having a man and his wife, Christopher and Monica Mutsvangwa, both associates of the President, ministers in the same cabinet.
The President’s 34-year-old son, David, was among 26 officials sworn in as cabinet ministers on Tuesday.
In his expanded cabinet, Mnangagwa’s son is to deputize finance minister Mthuli Ncube while his nephew, Tongai, would serve as deputy minister in the tourism ministry.
Some Zimbabweans have accused Mnangagwa of running the southern African country as “a family business.”
“Slowly Zimbabwe is becoming a family business. Mnangagwa Pvt (Ltd),” one Zimbabwean wrote on social media platform X.
“The creation of a dynasty is what’s happening right now,” another commented.
Zimbabwe’s information secretary, Nick Mangwana, defended the President’s inclusion of his relatives into his cabinet.
“We are lucky when in the election of MPs there are people with professional qualifications and good experience in the pool the president has to pick ministers from. If some of those happen to be related to him, that doesn’t disqualify them for nomination on that basis only. They are also Zimbabweans,” Mangwana wrote on X.
