- Get link
- Other Apps
Featured Post
Posted by
Maendeleo Vijijini
on
- Get link
- Other Apps
By KITEPILE NYATHI in Harare
imbabwe's Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko has become one of the most talked about politicians in the southern African country.
Among others, his residence has become an issue of public debates.
Mr Mphoko, a career diplomat was plucked from
oblivion in December 2014 by President Robert Mugabe, who made him the
second vice-president after an unprecedented purge in the ruling party
Zanu PF.
The purge was spurred by allegations that a
faction in the party led by former Vice-President Joice Mujuru was
plotting to assassinate the 92 year-old veteran leader.
Instead of helping rejuvenate Zanu PF, which
is already under pressure for tolerating corruption and running down the
economy, the new vice-president has brought unwanted scrutiny on the
party through his lavish lifestyle amid growing poverty.
Zimbabweans, angry at unchecked corruption,
rising unemployment and a crumbling economy, have been holding protests
on almost a daily basis on the streets of Harare.
Posh hotel
The luxurious hotel on the outskirts of the
city centre where Mr Mpoko has been holed since his surprise appointment
two years ago is now a regular target of the protestors, who want him
to move out to help reduce government expenditure.
According to media reports, the cash-strapped
government is paying $1,023 a day for the vice-president’s stay at
Rainbow Towers, formerly the Sheraton Hotel.
The amount covers bed, breakfast and dinner
for Mr Mphoko and his wife Lauranda as well as grandchildren, who at
times stay with the top government official in the presidential suite.
At the end of last month, the family had spent
at least $600 000 on their hotel stay, much to the chagrin of activists
in a country where unemployment is estimated at a staggering 90 per
cent.
Mr Mphoko has shrugged public criticism of his
stay at the hotel saying he is entitled to the privilege as he has no
house in Harare.
But the former Zimbabwe ambassador to South
Africa, Botswana and Russia, who is a shareholder in one of southern
Africa’s leading supermarket brands – Choppies – has properties in the
second largest city of Bulawayo.
The main opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) has tried unsuccessfully to use Parliament to censure the
vice-president without success because Zanu PF enjoys an absolute
majority.
New status
“The MDC is deeply concerned and indeed,
saddened by the level of insensitivity, selfishness and profligacy that
is being exhibited by this man who also refers to himself as a war
veteran notwithstanding the fact that his liberation struggle is rather
shadowy and mired in controversy,” the party said in a statement.
“Mr Mphoko’s apparent love for living life on
the fast lane is a monumental embarrassment not only to himself but to
all patriotic Zimbabweans,” the party added.
Mr Mphoko’s controversial tastes hit the
headlines soon after his appointment when his wife rejected two houses
in Harare’s leafy suburbs of Ballantyne Park and Gunhill, where former
Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam stays.
Mrs Mphoko complained that the houses were not suitable for her husband’s newly found status.
The government was to settle for a mansion in
the Highlands suburb that cost $1.9 million. Mr Mphoko reportedly topped
up with $400 000.
'Unhappy' wife
However, the vice-president has not been able
to move into the mansion because his wife is not happy with the quality
of furniture the government bought for him.
“The furniture was moved into the house on Wednesday and Thursday last week,” the privately owned Zimbabwe Independent reported on July 22.
“However, the vice-president’s wife visited the house on Tuesday this week and ordered that everything be removed.
“First, it was the other houses which she
rejected and now it’s the furniture but her new demands have been
rejected by the President’s Office.”
Mr Mphoko only moves out of the presidential suite at Rainbow Towers when there are visiting heads of state.
“The presidential suite is booked for the
whole year. Mr Mphoko only moves out temporarily to a diplomatic suite
if there is a visiting head of state,” the paper quoted an unnamed hotel
official saying.
“Otherwise, the suite is now like his permanent home.”
The last time the vice-president left the
presidential suite was on June 30 when he had to make way for Sierra
Leonean President during his two-day state visit.
In December 2015, he was displaced by visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping for only one night.
Frustrated opposition parties and activists
argue that the government cannot afford the vice-president’s hotel bill
because Zimbabwe has been struggling to pay civil servants on time.
“The MDC is absolutely disturbed by (Mr)
Mphoko’s lack of respect and indeed, commiseration, with the majority of
Zimbabweans most of whom cannot even put one square meal on the table
per day,” MDC spokesperson Obert Gutu said.
“Put simply, (Mr) Mphoko is a national
disgrace. With politicians and government officials in the mould of
Mphoko, Zimbabwe’s socio-economic quagmire can only but get worse and
worse,” Mr Gutu added.
“The Zanu PF regime is struggling to pay civil
servants their salaries and wages on time but we have a vice-president
who wants to lead the life of a celebrity at the expense of a bankrupt
government.”
Power-sharing
On the other hand, Mr Mphoko has justified his stay at the hotel saying the facility was owned by the government.
“The day I was appointed VP of this country, I
was staying at Meikles (another five star Harare hotel),” the VP said
in a recent interview with State media, boasting that he was a
successful businessman.
“According to government regulations, I had to
move out to a government hotel, which is Sheraton (Rainbow Towers). The
government has shares there,” he added.
The government holds less than four per cent shareholding in the company that owns the hotel through the Ministry of Tourism.
President Mugabe’s lieutenant was also dismissive of the accusations that the house the government bought him was too expensive.
“People don’t know what they are talking
about,” Mr Mphoko said. “The house that the government has bought me is
not even $3 million. It's $1 million.
“I live in a government hotel. It’s as good as staying in a government house.
“It’s as good as (MDC leader and former Prime Minister Morgan) Tsvangirai who is staying in a government house.
“(Mr) Tsvangirai is staying in a government house, which is as good as staying at Sheraton.”
Mr Tsvangirai, who was in a power sharing
government with President Mugabe between 2009 and 2013, moved into the
Highlands mansion as part of his perks with an option to buy the
property.
The VP also downplayed the expensive upgrades
at his new Harare home saying the government had certain security
standards for its senior officials.
He said his house in Bulawayo had also been upgraded in line with his new status.
SOURCE: AfricaReview.com
Comments
Post a Comment