The highest Zimbabwean government spender named

PRIME Minister Tsvangirai's Office is reported to be having the highest expenditure on Government travel as it has already gobbled up 42 percent of its 2011 budget allocation despite the fact that the office has a staff complement of 52 and has no mandate in the discharge of foreign affairs, it has been unearthed.

Out of 37 Government ministries/ departments, the highest travel expenditure as a percentage of the allocated budget is the PM's Office at 42 percent with a staff complement of 52 while the least is the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education at 0,38 percent with a staff complement of 3 040.

The Office of the President and Cabinet is fifth at 15,94 percent with a staff complement of 498.

There are allegations that Traverze Travel Company, whose managing director is Ms Zodzwa Mtunzi, is exclusively managing the US$5,8 million which constitutes the 42 percent of the travel budget of the PM's Office, raising the ire of some players in the tourism and travel sector who query how that the travel company clinched the deal.

When contacted for comment, Ms Mtunzi admitted that her company was providing ticketing services to the PM's Office but denied that the quantum of that service was US$5,8 million.

A concerned senior Treasury official who spoke to The Sunday Mail on condition of anonymity said: "The contentious issue about the travel budget is not about the quantum of the amount but about the percentage of the amount given the total allocated budget, size of the staffing complement and the amount spent on programmes that support or help the ordinary people and the general public that

Government as an institution is supposed to serve in the first place."

Investigations by the Sunday Mail over the last two weeks have shown that the PM's Office has no budget for programmes either for Mr Tsvangirai or Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe.

The only allocation for programmes in the PM's Office is a paltry 4 percent earmarked for Deputy Prime Minister Professor Arthur Mutambara to undertake his Public Private Partnership initiative.

While the PM's travel cost is 42 percent of his office's total budget, 21 percent is set aside for his controversial house, 4 percent for the PM's hospitality, 4 percent for DPM Mutambara's programmes and 29 percent for furniture, equipment and salaries in the PM's Office.

These startling revelations come amid growing indications that all is not well in the management of the PM's Office by one of the directors, Ian Makone, who is said to have sadly turned the office not only into a listening post for the US, UK and EU governments but also transformed it into a parallel government structure with a single-minded political purpose for illegal regime change.

It is understood that the highlight of Makone's mismanagement of the PM's Office was the illegal housing and facilitation of the British spy, Charles Heatly, who illegally authored the Government work programme between 2009 and 2010.

The Prime Minister's spokesperson, Mr Luke Tamborinyoka denied that the Prime Minister's trips have gobbled up US$5,8 million. He, however, refused to disclose the exact amount that has been spent on the foreign trips.

"The figure you are talking about is wrong. The actual figure is much less than U$5 million. I cannot disclose the actual amount that has been spent on the foreign trips but what I know for sure is that it is nowhere near US$5 million," he said.

Mr Tamborinyoka said all foreign trips by the PM are justified. "The Prime Minister will be conducting Government business and all his foreign trips are sanctioned by the State," he said. He added that the PM travels with a delegation of not more than six people.