Mugabe saves Mzembi, Supa drowns Mujuru, Mutasa, Shamu

President Robert Mugabe has saved some of his ministers who failed to make it to the central committee by appointing them to the powerful organ.

Using his newly-acquired prerogative to appoint 10 people to the central committee, Mugabe saved Foreign Affairs minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, Tourism minister Walter Mzembi and Deputy Information minister Supa Mandiwanzira.

Also appointed were Pupurai Togarepi, Mudhumeni Chiwende, Charles Tavengwa, Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, Absalom Sikhosana, Arguy Georgias and Josephine Gandiya.

This meant that the likes of Vice president Joice Mujuru, Presidential Affairs minister Didymus Mutasa, Labour minister Nicholas Goche, Indigenisation minister Francis Nhema and Postal Services minister Webster Shamu are now effectively just ordinary card-carrying members - which puts their Cabinet posts in jeopardy.

Justifying his appointment of Mzembi, Mugabe described him as one of the hardest working ministers in the Cabinet, which gave him no choice but to save him.

A central committee member described the appointments and disappointments as "not unexpected", but still "a carnage".

"All of this is not unexpected given the events of the past few months which has seen some of the affected officials mired in the plots to topple and assassinate President Mugabe.

"Still, this can be read as a carnage as it means that President Mugabe has to virtually reorganise his Cabinet team from scratch as almost half his current team has fallen," he said.

The central committee membership has, meanwhile, been increased from 245 to 300 members through the constitutional amendments that were advocated for by Mugabe and endorsed by congress.