Zimbabwe prime minister wants top aide Roy Bennett to join Cabinet after acquittal
By APSunday, May 16, 2010
Zimbabwe prime minister wants aide to join Cabinet
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s prime minister says he wants top aide Roy Bennett appointed to the Cabinet after he was acquitted of all charges in a terrorism case.
Speaking at a news conference Sunday after a two-day party meeting, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai insisted Bennett should now be made deputy agriculture minister.
Bennett was the nominee until he was arrested last year on the same day Cabinet ministers were sworn into office.
The case against Bennett has strained Zimbabwe’s struggling coalition government since it was forged more than a year ago. Bennett’s allies maintain the charges were baseless and aimed at undermining the coalition.
Longtime President Robert Mugabe’s party, though, says it will not accept Bennett into the Cabinet even after his acquittal.
