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Zimbabwe

As army dissent grows, Mnangagwa appoints loyalist as security minister

Lovemore Matuke, who led Mnangagwa’s campaign for a third term, is the new spy chief and security coordinator

Facing challenges to his authority from the army, which installed him in 2017 and his campaign for a third term in disarray, President Emmerson Mnangagwa appointed Lovemore Matuke, one of his closest allies, as Minister of State Security on 19 October. Mnangagwa, a former security minister, had left the post vacant for three years because it gave him direct control over the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) and the Joint Operations Command (JOC), which coordinates national security. When Mnangagwa ran JOC, it organised a devastating assault on opposition politicians after they won the first round of the elections in 2008.

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