| PHOTO: | Zimbabwe’s Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko. PHOTO | AGENCIES |
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By:
KITSEPILE NYATHI
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| Posted:
Aug,19-2016 11:53:41
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HARARE
Zimbabwe’s Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko has become one of the most talked about politicians in the southern African country.
Among others, his residence has become an issue of public debate.
Mr Mphoko, a career diplomat was plucked from oblivion in December 2014 by President Robert Mugabe, who made him the second vice--president after an unprecedented purge in the ruling Zanu PF.
The purge was spurred by allegations that a faction in the ruling party led by former Vice--President Joice Mjuru was plotting to assassinate the 92 year-old leader.
Instead of helping rejuvenate Zanu PF, which was already under pressure for tolerating corruption and running down the economy, the new vice--president has brought unwanted scrutiny on the party through his lavish lifestyle amid growing poverty.
Zimbabweans, angry at unchecked corruption, rising unemployment and a crumbling economy, have been holding protests on almost a daily basis on the streets of Harare.
A leafy hotel on the outskirts of the city centre where Mr Mpoko has been holed since his surprise appointment two years ago is now a regular target of the protestors, who want him to move out to help reduce government expenditure.
According to media reports, the cash strapped government is paying $1,023 (Ksh100,000) a day for the vice-president's stay at Rainbow Towers, formerly the Sheraton Hotel.
The amount covers bed, breakfast and dinner for Mr Mphoko and his wife Lauranda as well as grandchildren, who at times stay with the top government official in the presidential suite.
At the end of last month, the family had spent at least $600, 000 on their hotel stay, much to the chagrin of activists in a country where unemployment is estimated at a staggering 90 percent.
SHRUGGED PUBLIC CRITICISM
Mr Mphoko has shrugged public criticism of his stay at the hotel saying he is entitled to the privilege as he has no house in Harare.
But the former Zimbabwe ambassador to South Africa, Botswana and Russia, who is a shareholder in one of southern Africa's leading supermarket brands--Choppies--has properties in the second largest city of Bulawayo.
The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has tried unsuccessfully to use Parliament to censure the vice--president without success because Zanu PF enjoys an absolute majority.
Mr Mphoko's controversial tastes hit the headlines soon after his appointment when his wife rejected two houses in Harare's leafy suburbs of Ballantyne Park and Gunhill, where former Ethiopian dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam stays. Mrs Mphoko complained that the houses were not suitable for her husband's newly found status.
The government was to settle for a mansion in the Highlands suburb that cost $1.9 million. Mr Mphoko reportedly topped up with $400 000.
However, the vice-president has not been able to move into the mansion because his wife is not happy with the quality of furniture the government bought for him.
"The furniture was moved into the house recently," the privately owned Zimbabwe Independent reported on July 22.
"However, the vice-president’s wife visited the house on Tuesday this week and ordered that everything be removed.’’
"First, it was the other houses which she rejected and now it's the furniture but her new demands have been rejected by the President's Office."
Mr Mphoko only moves out of the presidential suite at Rainbow Towers when there are visiting heads of state.
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