After President Emmerson Mnangagwa gave a hint during the Christmas Day interview with the state broadcaster that he would be rejuvenating his administration in the New Year; many Zimbabweans became hopeful.
Mnangagwa, who has been in power since the coup that toppled Robert Mugabe in 2017, said he was using the festive season to evaluate the performance of his government in the year gone by so that he could make changes that would ensure his vision came to life.
That was music to the ears of many Zimbabweans, who have been criticising his ministers for their continued failure to find workable solutions to the many problems facing the country.
They expected changes to the ministries that failed to deliver adequate energy to power the country’s industries, water for households, to rejuvenate local governance systems and to grow the economy.
However, to everyone’s surprise last Friday, it was announced that Mnangagwa was recycling Energy and Power Development minister Edgar Moyo and his counterpart Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare minister July Moyo.
The two swapped ministries. To some extent it was an admission that the two ministers had failed to deliver in their portfolios.
In 2024, the Energy and Power Development ministry came under scrutiny because of the worsening electricity shortages in the country that has seen some households going for over 24 hours without power.
Granted the electricity shortages were not peculiar to Zimbabwe as they affected the whole region because of the El Nino induced drought, we saw some countries coming up with mitigation measures that are working.
- Mr President, you missed the opportunity to be the veritable voice of conscience
- ED to commission new-look border post
- Zanu PF ready for congress
- EU slams Zim over delayed reforms
Keep Reading
South Africa, which had some of the worst load shedding at the beginning of last year, has seen its electricity situation stabilise because of practical steps it has taken to correct the problem.
On the other hand, the situation continues to get worse in Zimbabwe.
As shown in our 2024 Cabinet scorecard published today, the two ministers were not the only non-performers.
What Zimbabweans want to see right now is the deployment of the right skills to help the country out of the quagmire it finds itself in.
Selection of Cabinet ministers must always be based on meritocracy more than political loyalty, which seems to be the case with the current administration.
Mnangagwa should stop the habit of recycling deadwood because of political considerations and put together a team that will deliver on his vision.
