ZIMBABWE: Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe purged moderates and promoted hardliners yesterday in a cabinet shuffle predicted to accelerate the country's rapidly deteriorating economic and humanitarian crisis.
Finance Minister Mr Simba Makoni, seen as one of the last voices of restraint in government, was fired and replaced by Mugabe loyalist Herbert Murewa, state media reported yesterday.
Mr Makoni had publicly disagreed with President Mugabe's refusal to devalue the Zimbabwe dollar - whose black market value is over 10 times the official rate - and had criticised the controversial land seizures that have crippled the economy.
Among those retaining their posts were Information Minister Mr Jonathan Moyo - whose draconian media laws led to the arrest of 12 journalists this year - and Agriculture Minister Mr Joseph Made, who spearheaded this month's seizure of commercial farms and the arrests of over 200 white farmers.
Health Minister Mr Timothy Stamp, the only white in cabinet, was removed for health reasons. He has not worked since suffering a stroke last year.
The moves are likely to make life even more precarious for ordinary Zimbabweans, almost half of whom are threatened with famine. A drought-led food crisis has been dramatically worsened by economic policies which Mr Mugabe bolstered through yesterday's reshuffle, analysts said.
Civic society leader Mr Lovemore Madhuku said the beleaguered leader was surrounding himself with loyalists as he faced a barrage of international condemnation. "[Mugabe] is not in the mood to work with anybody who is not prepared to join him in the trenches," he told Reuters.
Australia, a prominent Commonwealth member, sharpened the confrontational tone yesterday when its Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Alexander Downer, accused Mr Mugabe of "ethnic cleansing" against white farmers. The Commonwealth is expected to introduce further "targeted sanctions" soon.