Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has sacked Information Minister Jonathan Moyo after he defected from the ruling ZANU-PF party to run as an independent in upcoming parliamentary elections. Mugabe spokesman George Charamba on Saturday said Moyo — who has spearheaded Mugabe's propaganda campaign through five years of mounting political and economic crisis — had been stripped of party membership, his legislative seat and cabinet post. "By his actions, he ceases to be a member of parliament and a minister in [the] government," Charamba said in a statement. Moyo registered on Friday as an independent candidate for the 31 March parliamentary elections after being sidelined in a power struggle to become Mugabe's likely successor when he retires in 2008.