President Mnangagwa faces allegations of nepotism after appointing family in cabinet

The newly re-elected president of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, has appointed his son Kudakwashe David Mnangagwa as one of the new set of cabinet members.

Zimbabweans took part in the 2023 general elections which happened in August, and Mnangagwa emerged as a disputed winner, after garnering 52.6 per cent of the total votes.

On Monday, September 11, Mnangagwa appointed a new cabinet and placed his son as the Deputy Minister of Finance in the parliament's youth quota.

This move sparked a lot of nepotism accusations as the president also included his nephew Tongai Mnangagwa in the list of appointments as deputy minister of tourism.

The 35-year-old Kudakwashe will deputise Mthuli Ncube, an ex-banker who retained his position as the country’s Finance Minister.

Ncube has not been spared from criticism after the economic policies established during the previous term failed to bear fruits dragging the country to $17 billion in debt.

The mining ministry was handed over to Soda Zhemu, replacing Winston Chitando who has been the Mines Minister since November 2017.

The ruling party, Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF), has not made any comments on the allegations despite netizens expressing their disappointment.

However, supporters of the son say that he is qualified for the job.

The leadership of President Mnangagwa has been questioned by a huge number of citizens who termed the elections as ‘unfair’.

On elections day, ballot papers were delayed and voters had to wait for hours to cast a vote. Due to that situation, the election were held for two days.