Robert Mugabe Emmerson Mnangagwa
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe (R) shares a joke with his vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa during Mugabe's birthday celebrations at Great Zimbabwe in Masvingo, February 27, 2016. Mugabe marked his 92nd birthday at a nearly $1 million party organised by supporters in a drought-stricken area on Saturday, drawing criticism from opponents who said the celebrations were an affront to ordinary Zimbabweans. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has sworn in new ministers, a day after a Cabinet reshuffle in which he stripped the justice ministry from a vice president accused of harboring presidential ambitions.

The eight new ministers who took office on Tuesday include Happyton Bonyongwe, the former intelligence chief who is now justice minister. He replaced Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was once viewed a front-runner to succeed 93-year-old Mugabe but has been harshly criticized recently by the president and his wife for allegedly leading a faction angling for power.

Mnangagwa, a close ally of Mugabe since the 1970s war for independence from white minority rule, became vice president in 2014. He had held the justice portfolio since 2013.

Mugabe also appointed new finance and information ministers in this week's reshuffle.

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