PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa and his bloated entourage
splashed US$12 million on travel expenses between January and September this
year at a time government is battling to contain an intractable economic
crisis.
However, the US$12 million reflected in the proposed 2020
budget estimates of expenditure contained in the blue book is a conservative
figure, considering Mnangagwa’s endless flights aboard a luxurious hired jet
which took him to Japan in August at a cost of US$1,7 million before he jetted
to New York the next month for the United Nations (UN) General Assembly at
roughly the same cost.
By August, Mnangagwa’s flying adventures had taken him to
40 destinations aboard the regal plane which costs US$30 000 to hire for an
hour.Mnangagwa’s unbridled spending on lavish travel has seen government spend ZW$195
448 930 million (US$12,2 million at Interbank rate) on local and foreign trips
in the first eight months of the year.
Calculations based on the budget estimates of expenditure
tabled in parliament by Finance minister Mthuli Ncube reveal Mnangagwa used
US$12 215 558 when converted at the current interbank rate. Actual figures of
expenditure up to September 2019 outlined in the blue book, indicate that the
Office of the President and Cabinet spent ZW$12 979 637 (US$811 227) on
domestic travels, while ZW$182 469 293 (US$11 404 330) was on foreign trips.
According to the blue book, the money spent on travel by
government was in excess of ZW$2 million of the year’s budget which was
estimated at ZW$165 745 811 (US$10 359 113).
Since ascending into power through a military coup that
toppled former president Robert Mugabe after nearly four decades of rule,
Mnangagwa and members of his administration have been globe-trotting in search
of much-needed foreign investors, under the “Zimbabwe is open for business”
mantra.
Mnangagwa has also been seeking lines of credit to
kick-start the comatose economy.In the first nine months of last year
Mnangagwa’s travels had gobbled US$23,2 million against a foreign travel budget
of US$17 million, according to the Finance ministry.
On most of his foreign travels, Mnangagwa has been using a
luxurious jet operated by Swiss aviation Comlux, hired at US$30 000 per hour.In
July Mnangagwa attended the United Nations General Assembly in New York
accompanied by a bloated entourage of 90 people, including Zanu PF youths.
Despite the rhetoric on austerity, government has been
spending millions of taxpayers’ money on other controversial projects such as
hiring four top-notch international public relations firms this year, to
facelift the country’s battered image, in addition to numerous travels.The
Ministry of Finance also allocated ZW$3,1 billion (US$187,6 million) to the
Ministry of Defence and War Veterans.
While sectors which are critical to reviving the ailing
economy, such as the Ministry of Industry and Commerce as well as the Mines
ministry, have been allocated ZW$368 million (US$23 million) and ZW$293,2
million (US$18,3 million) respectively.
Ironically, the government is failing to address the water
crisis and power outages due to lack of funding. Harare City Council has
pointed out that it had lost capacity to purify the water it pumps into homes,
citing shortages of foreign currency to buy the water treatment chemicals.
It also comes as runaway inflation, which has decimated
earnings and pushed prices of basic goods and services beyond the affordability
of the majority of Zimbabweans.
Annualised inflation, currently at 440% has forced local
firms to adopt hyperinflationary reporting despite Ncube having projected
single digit inflation for next year. Zimbabwe Independent
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