HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Tuesday appointed the country’s military boss to replace Kirsty Coventry as sports minister.
Mnangagwa said that Gen. Anselem Sanyatwe, commander of the Zimbabwe National Army, has replaced Coventry following her election as new president of the International Olympic Committee.
The 41-year-old Coventry, Africa’s most successful Olympian, received a warm welcome in Harare. She’s the first woman and first African to be elected head of the global Olympic movement.
Coventry had said she will resign from her minister’s job to move to the Olympic home city of Lausanne in Switzerland. Her eight-year term in charge of the IOC begins in June.
Still, Mnangagwa’s statement said Coventry had been “relieved” following her “deserved election” to the IOC post.
The choice of Sanyatwe has sparked debate in the politically unstable Southern African country.
Sanyatwe moving to a cabinet role could be viewed as a downgrade from the all-powerful military position given Zimbabwe’s political situation following the army-assisted ouster of Robert Mugabe in 2017.
The president’s statement also said Sanyatwe was being “terminated” from his military position.
___
AP Sports: https://apnews.com/sports
