President Emmerson Mnangagwa may be regarded as a saviour by the Mugabe family for coming in at their hour of most need but the true cost of the gift has angered many Zimbabweans.
Mnangagwa hired the world’s fastest private jet offering the ultimate in luxury travel whose value is $65 million as at 2013 for his bitter rival Grace Mugabe who recently lost her mother Idah.
Grace, who was receiving treatment for an undisclosed ailment in Singapore when her mother died, thanked Mnangagwa’s government for chartering a plane to bring her home.
“We used to travel using commercial aircraft during our tenure as the First Family. That has changed,” she said. “President Mnangagwa charters a private jet. It just takes us a phone call. It was a beautiful plane, a brand-new Gulfstream 650 from Qatar.
“If I get rich, I will buy such an aircraft. I’ve never boarded such a plane. The crew told me that I was the first person to board it. It is my dream plane. I felt comforted. Mnangagwa comforted me. If it takes my mother’s death for us to restore our old friendship, then let it be.
The true cost of hiring the round trip from Singapore to Harare is US$1.4million.
“Spending US$1.4million to hire a luxury private jet for Dr. Amai Grace Mugabe is completely unacceptable. Apo hatinganyarane; this is a country not a private business. Our people have no medications, kids can’t pay fees but we spend money on a private jet?”, said Edmund Kudzayi
