Mr Mnangagwa is said to have a father-son relationship with Mr Mugabe |
Zimbabwe's
President Robert Mugabe has appointed Emmerson Mnangagwa as his deputy, making
the former justice minister the favourite to succeed him.
Mr
Mnangagwa takes over from Joice Mujuru who Mr Mugabe sacked after accusing her
of plotting to kill him, an allegation she has denied. Nicknamed
"The Crocodile", Mr Mnangagwa is reputed to be a hardliner. Continue..
Mr
Mugabe, 90, purged the government of seven ministers on Tuesday as he tightened
his grip on power.
He was
re-elected leader of the ruling Zanu-PF party at its congress at the weekend while
his 49-year-old wife, Grace, was chosen to head its women's wing.
In his
first comments since his elevation to the vice-presidency was announced, Mr
Mnangagwa defended the purge.
"The
revolution has a way of way of strengthening itself. It goes through cycles,
this is another cycle where it rids itself of elements that had now become
inconsistent with the correct line," he is quoted by AFP news agency as
saying.
Mrs
Mujuru, 59, was seen as Mr Mnangagwa's main rival in the battle to take over
from Mr Mugabe when he retires or dies.
State
media and Mrs Mugabe led the months-long campaign to oust her.
Emmerson Mnangagwa,
affectionately known as Ngwena, or crocodile, is the obvious heir apparent. The
first lady, Grace Mugabe, fuelled rumours of a possible Mugabe dynasty after
she stole the limelight in recent months, addressing public rallies in which
she rubbished senior party officials.
It provoked intense
speculation that the president wanted to anoint her, and keep power in the
Mugabe family. But Mr Mnangagwa's appointment has dampened the speculation.
Should the president
leave the picture, Mrs Mugabe will become politically ineffective and will only
be respected in the party as the spouse of the founding father of independent
Zimbabwe.
On state security
issues, Mr Mnangagwa is Mr Mugabe's right-hand man and makes the president feel
secure. He looks up to Mr Mugabe, kneeling before him each time he presents
official documents. It speaks of a father-son relationship.
Mr Mugabe appointed
diplomat Phelekezela Mphoko as his second vice-president, but he is not a
Zanu-PF heavyweight, correspondents say.
Mr Mnangagwa served Mr
Mugabe before and during the 1970s guerrilla war against white-minority rule,
and has been a member of every administration since independence from Britain
in 1980.
He has been minister
of state security, defence and finance, as well as the speaker of parliament.
Mr Mugabe, who has
been in power since Zimbabwe's independence in 1980, is due to stand for election
again in 2018.
The ministers whose
sacking was announced on Tuesday included State Security Minister Didymus
Mutasa - another long-time ally of Mr Mugabe - and Energy Minister Dzikamai
Mavhaire, who was seen as close to Mrs Mujuru.
There is no word on
their replacements yet.
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