Editorial

Life of luxury for the man who broke Zimbabwe

30 December 2017 - 00:00 By SUNDAY TIMES

Who wouldn't want to be a dictator? Zimbabwe's former president, Robert Mugabe, will go down in history as a venal despot who committed atrocities against his people, rigged national elections and trashed an economy. He left his people starving, jobless and desperate. Yet he will be rewarded for almost four calamitous decades in power with perks fit for a monarch. He doesn't even have to scarper off to Dubai to enjoy them.
The 93-year-old was forced to quit in November after a de facto military coup, but an official gazette this week revealed that the wily veteran has negotiated a very cosy retirement package for himself and his wife.
Successor and one-time comrade Emmerson Mnangagwa has been more than generous. Mugabe and the missus are entitled to more than 25 staff, an office, two properties, a fleet of cars for employees, private international travel and an entertainment allowance - all courtesy of the government he ran into the ground...

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