Mugabe clips Kasukuwere's wings

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe's recent Cabinet reshuffle might have delivered a telling blow on Local Government minister Saviour Kasukuwere and Zanu PF Young Turks' bid to stall Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa's march towards the Presidency.

Kasukuwere was moved to his new portfolio in July. He was, however, left hanging by a thread, after Mugabe decided to create a whole new ministry to take charge of the influential traditional leaders, as well as the ruling party's rural strongholds headed by Abednigo Ncube.

Ncube, now Rural Development and Preservation of National Heritage minister, has been given charge of traditional leaders and all rural district councils, leaving Kasukuwere with the public works part, as well as urban councils.

Kasukuwere is reportedly locked in a bitter tussle with Mnangagwa for control of the ruling party, as competing factions angle for 91-year-old Mugabe's throne.