Mugabe hands key ministries to his party

The Zimbabwean president puts Zanu-PF in charge of crucial ministries, threatening a power-sharing deal.

Robert Mugabe has tasked his party with the ministries of defence, home affairs, and finance.

HARARE // The Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe has handed three important government ministries to his ruling party, a move the opposition said threw a power-sharing deal into jeopardy. A government notice said today that Mugabe's Zanu-PF party would take charge of defence, home affairs, which is in charge of the police, and finance, a portfolio crucial to the resuscitation of Zimbabwe's devastated economy.

Mr Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), had failed to agree on the allocation of the powerful ministries. The MDC said the move threatened the power-sharing deal agreed with Mugabe on September 15. "This is Zanu-PF's arrogant wish list that puts the whole deal into jeopardy. It is unilateral, contemptuous and outrageous," the MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said.

"Just yesterday we agreed to call in the facilitator Thabo Mbeki because there was a deadlock. The MDC totally and absolutely rejects this nonsense." Mr Mugabe's move follows a meeting with Tsvangirai during which they agreed to call Mr Mbeki, the former South African president and talks facilitator, after a deadlock on the allocation. The power-sharing deal allows, Mr Mugabe, in power since Zimbabwe's independence from Britain in 1980, to retain the presidency and chair the cabinet while Mr Tsvangirai as prime minister would head a council of ministers supervising the cabinet.

*Reuters