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HARARE, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's son-in-law Simba Chikore has been appointed chief operations officer (COO) for the national airline Air Zimbabwe in a development that has set the main opposition MDC-T party alleging that nepotism was at play.
Chikore, who married Mugabe's only daughter Bona in 2004 and have a son together, was once a pilot at the national airline and has reportedly also worked for Emirates and Qatar Airlines.
The announcement of his appointment early this week was immediately met with skepticism from opposition parties which alleged that it had been done on patronage.
"Simba Chikore is now the Chief Operations Officer at Air Zimbabwe (Pvt) Limited. Privatization of the state. Mugabe dynasty now in charge," said MDC-T spokesperson Obert Gutu.
Other opposition parties expressed the same sentiments, but the government defended the appointment, with Transport and Infrastructural Development minister Joram Gumbo saying that Chikore had been appointed on merit.
Gumbo said in state-controlled daily Herald that 132 people had applied for the post and Chikore's credentials surpassed the required qualifications.
A number of Mugabe's relatives have held influential positions in government and state enterprises. Enditem
