PRESIDENT Emmerson
Mnangagwa has once again ditched the struggling national flag carrier, Air
Zimbabwe and opted to fly to Guinea aboard a luxurious jet operated by Comlux —
headquartered in Switzerland.
The plane, according to sources, flew from its Swiss base
to Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport on Monday morning to fetch the
President although the national airline had an aircraft which could have flown
him to Guinea.
“Air Zimbabwe was all the years been depending on
presidential trips but since the coming in of President Mnangagwa, it has
become very difficult to secure those deals.
“He opts to fly with a more luxurious aircraft. But this
comes with a cost as the Swiss airline is paid in foreign currency while Air
Zimbabwe would have been paid using the real time gross settlement process
without stressing the national purse,” said a source at the national airline.
Deputy Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet
responsible for presidential communications, George Charamba could not be
reached for comment as he was said to be travelling with Mnangagwa, while
Transport minister Joel Biggie Matiza was not picking up his phone.
But senior staffers at the struggling Air Zimbabwe
confirmed that Mnangagwa did not use their aircraft and opted for a foreign
airline instead.
To show that Air Zimbabwe had the capacity, the airline
flew to Tanzania although not at full capacity. It could have cashed in more
had Mnangagwa chartered its plane.
In April, Mnangagwa reportedly blew $2,3 million to charter
the same plane on his State visit to Beijing, China.
Attempts to get a quotation from Comlux were fruitless as
their marketing department had not responded to e-mailed questions from
NewsDay.
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