Deputy Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet
responsible for presidential communications, George Charamba (GC), has said
President Emmerson Mnangagwa will continue to use hired private jets for his
travels for as long as the national airline Air Zimbabwe, does not have
aeroplanes that are reliable enough to fly him. Charamba said this yesterday in
a wide-ranging interview with Standard Senior Reporter, Xolisani Ncube (XN),
where he also spoke about other controversies surrounding Mnangagwa’s recent
actions. Below are excerpts from the interview.
XN: We understand that President Emmerson Mnangagwa has
today left the country for Angola. What is his mission in Angola?
GC: Yes, the president left for Angola this morning. He is
due to return home late today. It’s a fly-in fly-out situation due to serious
commitments here at home. As you know, we have a day set aside in the Sadc
region to commemorate the Cuito Cuanavale battle, fought in the Angolan
province of Cuando Cubango in 1988, between the Angolan army, aided by Cuban
forces, and the invading troops of the former apartheid regime in South Africa.
The Angolan government has been pushing that we declare this day a Southern
African Liberation Day. The invitation came over the weekend and it was
presented to the president on Monday during the usual Monday briefings. But
because we have the disaster that befell us and the declaration of the two days
of national mourning, the president decided to make it a fly-in fly-out
scenario. He has to show support at the meeting in Angola as well as remain
cognisant of the fact that we have pressing issues at home. He has to be here
for tomorrow’s (today’s) prayer day as well as attend to the rescue efforts in
Chimanimani.
XN: Many people have complained that the president is
flying too much using hired expensive luxurious private jets for all his
foreign trips. Who is footing the bill?
GC: (laughs) … You ask me who is footing the bill for the
president? Well, who is flying in this case? The president right, so who do you
want to foot the bill? It is government because he is not travelling for his
personal business. This is what international engagements come with. We would
want to be part of the global village and we have to carry the cost. I often
hear people say this and that, but if we want that global presence, the state
has to meet the cost that this comes along with.
If I was to talk about the recent trip to the UAE (United
Arab Emirates) and you look at the benefits of that trip, the opportunities
alone that came with that trip, surely the costs are way less than the results
we reaped from the trip. If you were to look at the business opportunities for
the country created thereof, indeed you could see that this was a necessary
expenditure by the state. The assistance coming from there, the energy business
deals and so on and so forth, you will appreciate that it was a necessary cost.
XN: Many people have been complaining that it does not make
sense for the president to be hiring an aircraft from as far as Dubai for him
to fly from Harare to Bulawayo. In fact, some have said it is like hiring a tax
from Gweru to go to the airport from the city centre. What do you say about
that?
GC: Again you have to understand how the aviation industry
works. For starters, we have to appreciate that we do not have a national
airline with an adequate fleet to service both the presidential trips and its
commercial needs. Then coming to the Bulawayo issue, the aircraft you are
talking about came in on Thursday and has been here preparing to take the
president to South Africa for the Sadc Solidarity Conference on Western Sahara,
scheduled for 25-26 March 2019 in Pretoria. So it had to take the president to
Bulawayo since it was here already and it did so at the same charge that it had
billed the state to take the president to South Africa. We booked the aircraft
to be here until it brings back the president from the summit on Tuesday.
If you were going to check, the aircraft is currently at
the tarmac of the domestic flights and it is cheaper than to hire the aircraft
on the day when the president wants to fly out. Let me pre-empt you. I know you
would want to ask why not use scheduled flights for the president. Here is the
tricky issue. One, it is very risky to do that for both the president and the
airline. In this case, we are talking of a national airline which has one
aircraft to service all its routes. If the president was to use a scheduled
flight, it means that all the luggage in that flight will be opened and
subjected to search by our security system. This inconveniences the reputation
of the airline and the passengers. Also the passengers themselves will have to
be subjected to those security systems and this definitely will lead in some
people leaving the airline and it loses business. Also when the president is
flying, he would fly in the business class and no one will be allowed there.
Just imagine you as a reporter you are supposed to fly to South Africa and you
have bought your business class ticket and just because the president has
joined the flight, you will have to move to the economy class and this will
definitely lead to some people abandoning the airline. Remember the aviation
business works on a patronage system and losing one customer is a big blow
which no airline would risk. So we look at all those factors and if you are to
look at the opportunity costs, you are bound to agree with us that hiring an
aircraft for the president is much better than going through all those
challenges.
Key to this, the scheduled flight will have to change its
time to suit the president. This is dangerous for any airline. Talking about
the Bulawayo trip and the idea that the president could have used a scheduled
flight, it meant that he would need to divert the Harare-Johannesburg route to
go via Bulawayo, do you think people were going to agree to that? So really let
us be realistic when we discuss some of these issues.
XN: But surely the opportunity cost for taking an aircraft
from Dubai for $200 000 to take the president to Bulawayo does not make sense?
GC: Well, on the figure that is the creation of the media.
It is someone who created that figure in the newsroom and decided to make it
real. I have said this, the aircraft has been here in preparation for the
Monday trip to South Africa and the trip to Bulawayo did not matter at all. No
extra charge whatsoever.
XN: So the president flew to Angola using the same
aircraft, the one for the SA trip or he used our local Air Zimbabwe?
GC: The president went to Angola using a small aircraft,
hence I am here, because of the nature of the visit. Let me hasten to say we
are dealing with a man who is trying by all means to cut costs. Believe you me,
this man is serious about cost-cutting. He is very serious to an extent that
today he compromised his security. He trimmed down the delegation and opted to
use a smaller aircraft so that it becomes cheap and affordable. Imagine, he
went to Angola leaving behind even his press secretary and his security. Who
does that? I have been in government for years and I know what I mean when I
say he means business when it comes to cost-cutting. This is a touch-down
touch-up situation.
XN: So the state had to hire another aircraft for the
president which is smaller than the one we have?
GC: I think he used a small executive jet that has been
availed by a well-wisher for use by the president in attending to the disaster
that befell us. This jet could not be used to go to Mutare because of the state
of our aerodrome, so now it has been used to fly to Angola.
XN: So you mean the Airbus from Dubai has been here for
five or so days and we are paying for it while it is here? Does that make
economic sense?
GC: If you were to talk to people in the aviation industry,
you will realise that it would be cheaper to book an aircraft for long days
because it comes with a discount. Also you have to understand that this
business and its charges are determined by when you book, is it at its peak or
not, so all those issues come into play. From the transport economics
perspective, booking the aircraft here for days could be cheaper than making
short-notice bookings.
XN: Would you mind sharing how much we are paying for its
stay here?
GC: I don’t have the figures and I know the agenda you are
pushing, it’s an assumption premised on wrong information. Let me tell you
something. Airlines that are in the business of hiring out executive or VVIP
aircraft are normally not busy. I know you want to say the aircraft has been
here since Thursday to Tuesday and try to calculate the figure based on those
assumptions you have been peddling that are false anyway. The issue you have to
understand is that the aviation industry is very complicated. The charge is
determined by the demand of the aircraft. If it is off-peak, definitely it
would be cheaper and those who are in the business of engaging these airlines
know that.
XN: So for how long are we going to be hiring private jets
for the president, Cde Charamba?
GC: Until such a time we have a presidential jet or a
functioning national airline with a fleet of aircraft. At the moment, our
economy cannot sustain the purchase of a presidential jet. Imagine what would
happen if the president decides to get a presidential jet. Definitely it would
cause an uproar. So until such a time when our economy can sustain the purchase
of a presidential jet or we have a national airline with many aircraft, we
shall always resort to hiring of private jets. The idea to buy a presidential
jet is part of our plans in the long to medium-term, but for now, our economy
cannot allow us to do that.
XN: You have explained well on the presidential jet and why
the state hires, how about the VPs (vice-presidents), why not use scheduled
flights? We have seen them being flown using hired private planes, at whose
cost?
GC: This is part of conditions of service for the top
three. Even ministers, if their conditions of service stipulate that they
should be airlifted whenever they need medical attention at the expense of the
state, it must be done. Even top civil servants, if their benefits include airlifting,
there is nothing that we can do to change that, it is in their contracts.
XN: I understand well on the need to airlift them when they
are in need of medical attention, how about when they are travelling for
government business, a trip which cannot be booked within time, why do they use
private jets and still who foots the bill?
GC: Well, I don’t know that part, do you have an example
when such a thing happened?
XN: When VP Chiwenga was travelling to the Democratic
Republic of Congo for the inauguration of the new president there, he took a
private jet.
GC: As I said on the president issue, it comes down to
circumstances. In this case, we do not have a direct flight to the DRC and if
we were going to use scheduled flights, it meant that the VP was to fly to
South Africa and connect from there. The security risks at play here are so
huge and also the time factor. Again it meant that we were going to disturb the
business class of the airline and this is something that has issues with many
airlines. Look at the event he was attending, it was an inauguration, something
to do with international relations. Remember as well, this inauguration was
organised within a short period of time and the VP had to represent the country
within that short time.
XN: So you are suggesting that when the VPs are going for
scheduled trips they are supposed to use the normal system like ministers and
others?
GC: Oh yes, that is the case.
XN: Lastly, when the president flew to Mutare and
Chimanimani we saw a picture of a private helicopter delivering luxurious sofas
to be used at the interface with victims of Cyclone Idai, what was the logic
behind the act?
GC: (laughs) Did you verify that indeed that picture was
from Zimbabwe? Did you verify that indeed the sofas were there in Chimanimani
as is being alleged?
XN: There is a picture of a jet that supposedly delivered
the sofas behind VP Chiwenga and from that point, one makes an easy conclusion
thereof.
GC: You are a senior journalist and I expect better from
you. Did you verify that indeed the picture you are referring to is authentic
and the said act happened? Well, yes, we had a number of private jets that were
there when the president visited Cyclone Idai victims, but let me say this: I
was there too. At no point did we have a jet delivering the said sofas. The
private jets that were there had no capacity to carry the said sofas. We had
jets with a capacity to carry only four people. This is the reason we did not
bother ourselves to respond to the lies peddled by people with ulterior
motives.
XN: Thank you very much.
GC: Most welcome.
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