Mugabe sacks information minister

Robert Mugabe has sacked Jonathan Moyo, the controversial information minister, after he had defected from the ruling Zanu PF party to run as an independent in next month's parliamentary elections. George Charamba, Mugabe's spokesperson, said that Moyo had been stripped of party membership, legislative seat and cabinet post. "By his actions, he ceases to be a member of parliament and a minister in government," Charamba said in a statement. Moyo registered as an independent candidate for the parliamentary elections after being sidelined in a power struggle over who would be named as Mugabe's likely successor when he retires in 2008. Moyo, who had held one of 20 parliamentary seats reserved for Mugabe appointeees under Zimbabwe's electoral laws, now plans to run as an independent candidate in his rural home constituency of Tsholotsho in southwestern Zimbabwe. (SABC News, South Africa)