Zimbabwe’s two vice-presidents earn a staggering $14 000 a
month each at a time the government is struggling to pay civil servants a
living wage, it has been revealed.
President Emmerson Mnangwagwa has two VPs, namely, Kembo
Mohadi and Constantino Chiwenga.
The duo’s remuneration has not been made public since they
rose to the lofty positions after the military toppled former president Robert
Mugabe in 2017.
However, a divorce wrangle pitting Mohadi and his former
wife Tambudzani has helped to lift the lid on the VPs’ benefits with a payslip
attached to a court application revealing the veteran politician from
Beitbridge earns $7 000 in basic salary and a similar amount in allowances.
Tambudzani is demanding a $13 394 monthly maintenance from
Mohadi, whom she says earns “quite a substantial amount”.
“As a vice-president, the respondent (Mohadi) has more than
enough financial means to meet his maintenance obligation post- divorce,” she
argued in the court papers.
“As a vice-president, the respondent is entitled to annual
pension equivalent to (an) annual salary in terms of section 2 (1) (a1) of the
presidential pension and retirement benefit.
“The respondent’s pension constitutes extra income
demonstrating his financial capacity.”
Tambudzani said Mohadi also receives dividends from
businesses that he operates.
“The respondent is the vice-president and a 70-year-old
businessman with various business ventures all over the country,” she added.
The Beitbridge senator and a leading Zanu PF official in
Matabeleland South said she had become accustomed to a high standard of living
during her marriage to Mohadi and wanted to maintain it.
“During the subsistence of the marriage, we always
maintained a high standard of living due to our high-earning capacity,”
Tambudzani said.
“However, my monthly income is insufficient to pay for all
my monthly expenses and sustain the lifestyle I am accustomed to.
“As such, it is the legal duty of the respondent to
contribute maintenance for my monthly expenses until I die or remarry,” she
said.
Her own payslip for July 2018 showed that she earned a
gross salary of $1 124 and an allowance of $1 046. Her net salary was $2 032.
Last month the government increased the salaries of civil
servants by less than $300 and the workers complain that the money has already
been eroded by hyperinflation.
Civil servants take home less than $1 000 in salaries per
month.
According to the Blue Book, a government document that
details the state’s expenditure and debts, $630 000 was set aside for salaries
and allowances for Mnangagwa and his deputies this year.
The document, however, does not specify how much Mnangagwa,
Chiwenga and Mohadi earn a month.
The salary bill in the Office of the President and Cabinet
rose to $10,12 million from $8,77 million the previous year.
Finance minister Mthuli Ncube has made it a priority to cut
government expenditure under controversial austerity measures. Standard
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