The United States on Monday dismissed Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s recent reshuffling of his cabinet and repeated its opposition to his leadership of the country.
State Department representative Richard Boucher indicated there was nothing Mugabe could do to repair his credibility, damaged not only by a seriously flawed election earlier this year and his pursuit of
policies that Washington says are threatening the drought-stricken country with famine.
”I don’t think we’ve seen the kind of commitment to the right kind of policy or a commitment to not doing the wrong kind of policy that could lead Zimbabwe in a better direction under his leadership,” Boucher said.
”The policies that have been followed by the government of Zimbabwe have contributed to the suffering of its people. It’s not just drought, it’s the policies that the government is following out there.
”We have been appalled by the way they’ve decimated Zimbabwe’s international standing and its ability to produce food at a time when they have a national emergency,” Boucher said.
Washington stepped up already harsh criticism of Mugabe’s government last week over alleged state-backed violence and rights abuses tied to controversial land reforms and his crackdown on
opposition supporters.
Mugabe, facing mounting international criticism over his eviction of white farmers, announced late on Friday he was dissolving his cabinet five months after a disputed win in March presidential elections.
Earlier, he swore in a reshuffled ”war” cabinet to try to pull the southern African country out of its deep political and economic crises, state media reported.
Finance Minister Simba Makoni, seen by many as one of the more moderate members of the cabinet, and the ailing, sole white member of Mugabe’s cabinet, Health Minister Timothy Stamps, were dropped from the new line-up.
”This is a political war cabinet taking into account the action by the United Kingdom and its allies of interfering in the affairs of Zimbabwe,” Mugabe said, according to the official Ziana news agency.
Makoni was considered a lone voice of dissent in the cabinet, especially after Mugabe announced a return to socialism and an end to market reforms in October.
He had advocated economic policies that Mugabe disliked, such as devaluing the Zimbabwe dollar, which has been held at an official rate of 55 to one US dollar while black market rates have soared to
more than 650 to one.
US officials last week said Mugabe’s refusal to devalue the currency was exacerbating food shortages by discouraging merchants from exporting to Zimbabwe.
Mugabe has said the criticism from the United States and others is racist. – Sapa-AFP