Zimbabwe

Opposition names cabinet on eve of Tsvangirai PM seat

Article published on the 2009-02-10 Latest update 2009-02-10 15:02 TU

Zimbabwean opposition leader and Prime Minister designate Morgan Tsvangirai
(Credit: Reuters)

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who is tomorrow set to join a unity government as prime minister, today named 15 top party officials to a cabinet he said would rebuild the country. Tendai Biti, the lead negotiator for Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change in talks on the unity accord, was named to the crucial post of finance minister.

"Biti will have to try to right an ecomony where inflation runs well past the sextillions," said correspondent Ryan Truscott in Zimbabwe.

 After months of disagreement over sharing of the equally crucial interior, Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe agreed to share control of the post by appointing co-ministers from each party.

Tsvangirai named top MDC lawmaker Giles Mutseyekwa to the powerful ministry, which oversees the police, and picked MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa as minister for information science and technology.

The cabinet is slated to take office on Friday.

While preparations are underway for tommorrow's swearing in ceremonies, Amnesty International has called on the country's new unity government to immediately release leading rights activist Jestina Mukoko and other political detainees jailed since late last year.

"We are calling on the Zimbabwean government to prioritize human rights in its first 100 days of existence," said Simeon Mwanza, a Zimbabwe researcher at Amnesty International.

Despite the power-sharing deal, Mukoko and about 30 other rights activists and opposition supporters remain behind bars after being seized by state security agents and held in secret for weeks, according to Amnesty.

Amnesty called in particular for the release of Mukoko and her colleagues Broderick Takawira and Pascal Gonzo, who worked with her at the Zimbabwe Peace Project to document instances of rights abuses and political violence.

"We are also calling on the Zimbabwean authorities to look into the past, as well as to address the past human rights violations. We are equally concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation," he added.