Zimbabwean president says to appoint deputies soon

HARARE, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa said Friday he will appoint his two deputies in a few days time.

He said this while making closing remarks at the end of a one-day ruling ZANU-PF congress in Harare which endorsed him as the party leader and presidential candidate for the 2018 elections.

Mnangagwa took over as President of Zimbabwe on Nov. 24 following a military intervention which forced former president Robert Mugabe to resign after 37 years in power.

He has since appointed a cabinet but still remains to appoint his two deputies.

Mnangagwa also made new appointments to the politburo and appointed long-serving member Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri as the new party national chairperson.

The post had remained vacant since 2014.

A former secretary for the party's women's wing, Muchinguri-Kashiri is the current Minister of Environment, Water and Climate.

Mnangagwa appointed Major General Engelbert Rugeje to the powerful post of party political commissar, replacing Saviour Kasukuwere who has been expelled from the party.

He appointed parliament deputy speaker Mabel Chinomona as the secretary for the Women's League, taking over from former First Lady Grace Mugabe.

Other notable appointments are Home Affairs minister Obert Mpofu who was appointed secretary for administration, taking over from former finance minister Ignatius Chombo and Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa who was appointed secretary for finance.

Party chief whip Lovemore Matuke is now the party's secretary for national security, Simon Khaya Moyo retains his position as secretary for information and publicity while head of the war veterans association Christopher Mutsvangwa is the new secretary for science and technology.

Mnangagwa also appointed Lands Minister Air Marshall Perence Shiri and retired major-general Sibusiso Moyo, who is also foreign affairs minister, as politburo members.

Meanwhile, Mnangagwa thanked the party for choosing him as their leader and pledged to work together with all party members to revive the economy and create jobs for the people.

He said his government will seek to revamp the agriculture sector through increased financial support to the government's command agriculture program.

The command agriculture program will also be extended to other agro-based sectors such as livestock and fishery, he said.

The president said his government was committed to finding quick solutions to the current cash shortages in the economy, and appealed to the nation to be patient while it implements measures to resolve the crisis.

He said Afreximbank, which this week extended a 1.5 billion U.S. dollars facility to Zimbabwe, had promised to help the country address the cash crisis.

The president also decried the sharp increase in prices of basic goods.

"Our retailers should desist from wantonly increasing prices that I understand is happening. You must stop profiteering tendencies. Let's give the new economic era a chance," he said.

The president reiterated that the country will hold credible, free, fair and peaceful elections next year but emphasized that the party should work extremely hard to revive the economy in order to win the elections.

"We will only win at the ballot box if we show signs that we are recovering our economy," the president said.

He dismissed opposition threat in next year's polls, and emphasized that the plebiscite must be free of violence.

"There is no opposition to talk about. Our party has been rejuvenated and we must mobilize, re-organize and ensure that all our supporters are registered to vote," he said. Enditem