Opinion / Columnist
What is wrong with Mugabe?
28 Sep 2016 at 16:03hrs | Views
The greediness and corrupt activities by Robert Mugabe and his family have now reached alarming and unacceptable levels.
The Mugabe family has become the biggest accumulators, spendthrift and looters of the country's natural resources while the ordinary people who should be benefiting are suffering as the economy tumbles.
It is criminal and narrow-mindedness that when the country's economy is on its knees with the government is failing to pay civil servants their monthly salaries, Mugabe, during their frequent trips to Singapore and other countries, take away over $3 million in cash from the Treasury.
Instead, the meagre revenue collected by the government, which should be directed towards critical needs like health and education, is raided by Mugabe and his wife Grace, who is a known compulsive shopper, for their frequent but pointless foreign trips.
In the first five months of this year, Mugabe had used over $60 million in foreign trips, money which would have been channeled for other critical needs.
Mugabe's grabbing of the country's resources is also reflected in how he has managed to seize multiple farms across the country in total breach of the country's Constitution.
Mugabe and his family own vast tracts of farm land, which include game parks where ordinary farmers were removed from. Some of these farms are;
Gushungo Estates - 4046ha
Gushungo Dairies - 1000ha
Mazowe Iron Mask Estate - 1046ha
Sigaru Farm - 873ha
Gwina Farm - 1445ha
Gwebi Wood - 1200ha
Banket Leverdale Farm - 1488ha
Banket Highfield Farm - 445ha
Norton Cressydale Estate - 676ha
Norton Tankatara Farm - 575ha
Norton John O'Groat Farm - 760ha
Norton Clifford Farm - 1050ha
Norton Bassivile Farm - 1200ha
Buckland Estates
The total farm land owned by Mugabe over 16 000ha.
However, the country's Constitution is clear on land ownership. According to Section 293 subsection (2); "The State may not alienate more than one piece of agricultural land to the same person and his or her dependants".
This is why Mugabe is against the setting up of a land audit commission that will among other issues deal with the issue of multiple land ownership.
The commission will also ensure accountability, fairness and transparency in the administration of agricultural land.
It is also hard to believe that Mugabe is in the dark on the leakages of diamonds at Marange, where over $15 billion worth of diamonds have been looted by Zanu-PF officials and their partners.
In 2013, Mugabe's gang managed to sell eight million carats of diamonds, netting $684, 5 million. However, only $40 million was channeled to the state coffers.
The diamond heist has been going on for years under Mugabe's watch and over $15 billion has been stolen.
In 2013, there was a furore when Mugabe made sensational claims that the then Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) chairperson, Goodwills Masimirembwa had extorted $6 million from a Ghanaian company that sought to invest in the Marange diamond field on a joint venture agreement with ZMDC.
The people expected heads to roll and arrests to follow but up to now, nothing has happened, showing how deeply Mugabe and his wife are involved in the looting of the Marange diamonds.
It is therefore foolish and naïve that Mugabe and Zanu-PF his ministers will reform from their corrupt acts. Clearly, the centre cannot hold.
Mugabe has only managed the country to sink deeper into economic turmoil characterised by unemployment, hopelessness and fatalism.
This is why as the People's Democratic Party (PDP); we reiterate our position that Zimbabwe needs a soft landing through the creation of a National Transitional Authority (NTA).
The NTA will create a win-win situation and provide hope to the millions of ordinary Zimbabweans.
#TogetherAnotherZimbabweIsPossible
Jacob Mafume
PDP National Spokesperson
The Mugabe family has become the biggest accumulators, spendthrift and looters of the country's natural resources while the ordinary people who should be benefiting are suffering as the economy tumbles.
It is criminal and narrow-mindedness that when the country's economy is on its knees with the government is failing to pay civil servants their monthly salaries, Mugabe, during their frequent trips to Singapore and other countries, take away over $3 million in cash from the Treasury.
Instead, the meagre revenue collected by the government, which should be directed towards critical needs like health and education, is raided by Mugabe and his wife Grace, who is a known compulsive shopper, for their frequent but pointless foreign trips.
In the first five months of this year, Mugabe had used over $60 million in foreign trips, money which would have been channeled for other critical needs.
Mugabe's grabbing of the country's resources is also reflected in how he has managed to seize multiple farms across the country in total breach of the country's Constitution.
Mugabe and his family own vast tracts of farm land, which include game parks where ordinary farmers were removed from. Some of these farms are;
Gushungo Dairies - 1000ha
Mazowe Iron Mask Estate - 1046ha
Sigaru Farm - 873ha
Gwina Farm - 1445ha
Gwebi Wood - 1200ha
Banket Leverdale Farm - 1488ha
Banket Highfield Farm - 445ha
Norton Cressydale Estate - 676ha
Norton Tankatara Farm - 575ha
Norton John O'Groat Farm - 760ha
Norton Clifford Farm - 1050ha
Norton Bassivile Farm - 1200ha
Buckland Estates
The total farm land owned by Mugabe over 16 000ha.
However, the country's Constitution is clear on land ownership. According to Section 293 subsection (2); "The State may not alienate more than one piece of agricultural land to the same person and his or her dependants".
This is why Mugabe is against the setting up of a land audit commission that will among other issues deal with the issue of multiple land ownership.
The commission will also ensure accountability, fairness and transparency in the administration of agricultural land.
It is also hard to believe that Mugabe is in the dark on the leakages of diamonds at Marange, where over $15 billion worth of diamonds have been looted by Zanu-PF officials and their partners.
In 2013, Mugabe's gang managed to sell eight million carats of diamonds, netting $684, 5 million. However, only $40 million was channeled to the state coffers.
The diamond heist has been going on for years under Mugabe's watch and over $15 billion has been stolen.
In 2013, there was a furore when Mugabe made sensational claims that the then Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) chairperson, Goodwills Masimirembwa had extorted $6 million from a Ghanaian company that sought to invest in the Marange diamond field on a joint venture agreement with ZMDC.
The people expected heads to roll and arrests to follow but up to now, nothing has happened, showing how deeply Mugabe and his wife are involved in the looting of the Marange diamonds.
It is therefore foolish and naïve that Mugabe and Zanu-PF his ministers will reform from their corrupt acts. Clearly, the centre cannot hold.
Mugabe has only managed the country to sink deeper into economic turmoil characterised by unemployment, hopelessness and fatalism.
This is why as the People's Democratic Party (PDP); we reiterate our position that Zimbabwe needs a soft landing through the creation of a National Transitional Authority (NTA).
The NTA will create a win-win situation and provide hope to the millions of ordinary Zimbabweans.
#TogetherAnotherZimbabweIsPossible
Jacob Mafume
PDP National Spokesperson
Source - Jacob Mafume
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