Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has carried out a mini-cabinet reshuffle, moving Foreign Affairs Minister Frederick Shava to a new role.

Mr Shava has been reassigned to the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, swapping positions with Amon Murwira, who will now head the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

The changes, announced on Tuesday by Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Martin Rushwaya, took immediate effect.

This marks the third cabinet reshuffle during President Mnangagwa’s second term in office.

Mr Shava’s tenure as Foreign Minister began in 2021, following a career that has seen both highs and lows. In the 1980s, he resigned from a ministerial position after being implicated in a corruption scandal involving the sale of government vehicles at inflated prices.

Despite this setback, Mr Shava later served as Zimbabwe’s ambassador to China and spent several years as the country’s top diplomat at the United Nations before his appointment to the foreign affairs portfolio.

The government has not provided reasons for the reshuffle, which comes as Zimbabwe continues efforts to re-engage with the international community and attract foreign investment.

Analysts will be watching closely to see how this change might affect Zimbabwe’s foreign policy direction under the leadership of the new Foreign Minister, Amon Murwira.

The reshuffle was made under Section 104 Subsection (1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, which gives the president the power to appoint ministers and reassign functions of ministries.