President Emmerson Mnangagwa has come under fire for using
expensive chartered flights at a time when the majority of Zimbabweans are
wallowing in poverty.
Mnagagwa on Friday flew to Ethiopia for the African Union
(AU) summit on a private jet.
Last month Mnangagwa used a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner for his
trip to Eurasia amid reports that he blew US$25 million for the four-nation
journey that took him to Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan.
He was forced to return home before embarking on the last
leg of his trip to Davos, Switzerland, after mounting criticism over the
handling of the January 14 protests by the army.
The MDC Alliance yesterday said Mnangagwa’s use of hired
private jets showed that he did not care about the suffering of Zimbabweans,
who are reeling from an economic crisis.
“Mnangagwa has once again demonstrated his lack of care for
the mounting economic woes in Zimbabwe,” the party’s deputy spokesperson
Bekithemba Mpofu said in a statement.
“He once again flew in a hired Swiss Dreamliner, which will
cost the fiscus millions. When flying business class, it would have cost less
than $30 000.
“He flies out in the middle of a crisis, teachers are on
strike and the government has failed to even communicate a plan to both the
civil servants and concerned parents.
“Broadly, the economy continues to fail, fuel queues have
resurfaced, there are serious bread and cooking oil shortages while the prices
continue to spike.
“These shortages are attributed to the unavailability of
foreign currency much needed for the imports yet Mnangagwa always has cash to
fly in and out.”
Mpofu said the money spent by top government officials on
endless foreign trips should be used to revive crumbling infrastructure.
A pressure group calling itself Concerned Citizens wrote to
the AU saying African leaders must exert pressure on Mnangagwa to address the
political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe.
“[President] Emmerson Mnangagwa is gallivanting all over
the world on the best available leased jets,” he said.
“The environment is risky for citizens. Zimbabwe is not
open and free for its own people and not even for foreign business investment.
“Zimbabweans in the diaspora cannot even consider investing
in their country because of the political and economic instability and the
brutality of the regime against the citizens.”
Transport minister Biggie Matiza yesterday said he did not
know anything about Mnangagwa’s travel arrangements.
“I’m not aware of that. Actually, I was out of town and I
am not aware of that,” he said.
Mangagwa’s predecessor Robert Mugabe also had a penchant
for expensive foreign trips, but always used Air Zimbabwe planes. Standard
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