All eyes on Grace
Things appear to be going awry for the former first couple of Zimbabwe as they adjust to being ordinary citizens.
State media in Zimbabwe on Sunday rounded on former president Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace, suggesting in one editorial that the military operation that removed Mugabe from power be extended to his Harare mansion.
“How about Operation Restore Legacy at Blue Roof Mansion?,” said the headline on a column by Sunday Mail columnist, Bishop Lazarus.
In it the writer suggested that Mugabe had been “taken hostage in this rebellious house” and put “in a tight corner with the greedy and insecure former First Lady”.
The army denied its operation that put Emmerson Mnangagwa in power was a coup; instead officials said the move aimed at targeting target “criminals” around the president, a likely reference to Grace Mugabe and her allies.
In recent days Mugabe and his wife have been accused of backing a new political party led by former army officer and cabinet minister Ambrose Mutinhiri.
The Sunday Mail columnist said emissaries should be sent to Mugabe's “Blue Roof” mansion “to make the former president understand what is going on.
These people should make the former first lady understand the trouble she is putting herself into. All this is likely to end very, very bad for her.”
A cartoon in the same paper showed Mugabe staring out of a blank space with the word “mischief” written instead of a moustache.
State newspapers now only refer to Mugabe as “Mr”, stripping him of his decades-old title of “Comrade”.
In the meanwhile, new reports have emerged that former president Robert Mugabe doesn't want to join cash-starved Zimbabwe's bank queues: he wants to get his money out in cash - just like he's always done.
It's appears as though the 94 year-old was getting $20 000 a month in cash while he was president - while telling ordinary citizens they should adopt plastic money.
Lump sum
Now he's asking for a lump sum pay-out of nearly half a million US dollars plus his monthly pension of more than US$13 000 in cash, reports the Sunday Mail.
Public Service Commission Chairperson Mariyawanda Nzuwah wrote in a letter to central bank chief John Mangudya:
“The former president was being paid his salary in cash and he has requested that the same arrangement be maintained.”
“We are kindly requesting you to avail cash amounting to US$467 200 and monthly cash amounts of US$13 333 for us to pay the former president of Zimbabwe his pension benefits,” the letter said.
The news will fuel anger in a country where chronic cash shortages have plagued ordinary Zimbabweans for nearly two years.
A source in the office of the president said Mnangagwa recently turned down an attempt to be paid in cash like his predecessor.
The president is reported to have told a visiting government bank official “that if he needed cash he would queue for it like everyone else because the cash shortages affected all Zimbabweans and he would demand no such preferential and irregular treatment.”
NEWS24
“How about Operation Restore Legacy at Blue Roof Mansion?,” said the headline on a column by Sunday Mail columnist, Bishop Lazarus.
In it the writer suggested that Mugabe had been “taken hostage in this rebellious house” and put “in a tight corner with the greedy and insecure former First Lady”.
The army denied its operation that put Emmerson Mnangagwa in power was a coup; instead officials said the move aimed at targeting target “criminals” around the president, a likely reference to Grace Mugabe and her allies.
In recent days Mugabe and his wife have been accused of backing a new political party led by former army officer and cabinet minister Ambrose Mutinhiri.
The Sunday Mail columnist said emissaries should be sent to Mugabe's “Blue Roof” mansion “to make the former president understand what is going on.
These people should make the former first lady understand the trouble she is putting herself into. All this is likely to end very, very bad for her.”
A cartoon in the same paper showed Mugabe staring out of a blank space with the word “mischief” written instead of a moustache.
State newspapers now only refer to Mugabe as “Mr”, stripping him of his decades-old title of “Comrade”.
In the meanwhile, new reports have emerged that former president Robert Mugabe doesn't want to join cash-starved Zimbabwe's bank queues: he wants to get his money out in cash - just like he's always done.
It's appears as though the 94 year-old was getting $20 000 a month in cash while he was president - while telling ordinary citizens they should adopt plastic money.
Lump sum
Now he's asking for a lump sum pay-out of nearly half a million US dollars plus his monthly pension of more than US$13 000 in cash, reports the Sunday Mail.
Public Service Commission Chairperson Mariyawanda Nzuwah wrote in a letter to central bank chief John Mangudya:
“The former president was being paid his salary in cash and he has requested that the same arrangement be maintained.”
“We are kindly requesting you to avail cash amounting to US$467 200 and monthly cash amounts of US$13 333 for us to pay the former president of Zimbabwe his pension benefits,” the letter said.
The news will fuel anger in a country where chronic cash shortages have plagued ordinary Zimbabweans for nearly two years.
A source in the office of the president said Mnangagwa recently turned down an attempt to be paid in cash like his predecessor.
The president is reported to have told a visiting government bank official “that if he needed cash he would queue for it like everyone else because the cash shortages affected all Zimbabweans and he would demand no such preferential and irregular treatment.”
NEWS24
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article