Harare - Zimbabwean President Emmerson
Mnangagwa appointed retired army boss Constantino Chiwenga and
veteran politician Kembo Mohadi as the ruling party's vice
presidents, a spokesperson said on Saturday.
The appointments paved the way for the two to ascend to
similar positions in government, officials said.
Mnangagwa, who took over last month from 93-year-old Robert
Mugabe after the intervention of the military, is under pressure
from opposition parties and the public to implement political
reforms.
Under Mugabe's 37-year rule political space was limited,
with the latter part of his reign marked by the emergence of a
ZANU-PF faction aligned to his wife Grace that threatened to
usurp the army's central role in government.
Chiwenga, who retired from the army on Monday, is the latest
in a string of senior military figures appointed by Mnangagwa to
important political posts.
Presidential spokesman George Charamba said Chiwenga and
Mohadi’s appointments as vice presidents of the country could
only be made by the Chief Secretary to the Government and
Cabinet, Misheck Sibanda, who is out of the country.