Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC), a local pressure group has challenged President Mugabe to reign in on extravagant, Vice President Mphoko, whose continued stay at one of the country’s top hotels has gobbled over US$300 000.
Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko today cloaks exactly thirteen months since he occupied the five star hotel, Rainbow Towers in Harare together with his wife, a grandchild and his personal aides.
“We challenge President Robert Mugabe, as the appointing authority, to do the honorable thing of wiping his subordinate into line if the sentiments that “Zanu (PF) is a party of the people” are anything to go by.
“As CIZC, we condemn VP Mphoko’s continued stay in the expensive hotel, which according to estimates has gobbled over US$300 000 at a time Zimbabwe’s fiscus is bleeding,” reads the statement issued by CiZC.
Mphoko, who checked into the executive suite of the five-star Rainbow Towers Hotel on December 14, 2014, is reportedly said to have rejected some mansions in Harare’s leafy suburbs on the grounds that they were not befitting for a person of his stature.
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Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko
The NGO umbrella body, CiZC’s statement says Mphoko’s continued stay comes at a time when the country’s economy is on its knees.
“Presently, Zimbabwe’s economy is on a downward trend amid massive closures of companies as well as retrenchments.
“Government, faced with a huge external debt of around US$10 billion is also failing to pay its workforce and fears of unrest among civil servants are quite high.
To add on to the multitude of problems bedeviling the economy, Zimbabwe requires about $260 million to import maize with reports indicating that over 2,5 million Zimbabweans are in need of urgent food aid.
“In a nutshell, Zimbabwe’s economy is struggling and the fiscus is highly stressed,” reads the statement, adding that the country’s leadership resort to lavish lifestyles while the majority wallow in abject poverty with a big cloud of uncertainty hovering over their heads.
CiZC called on the VP to save the tax payer’s by moving into a government owned house.
“We implore VP Mphoko to show his integrity by doing the noble thing of moving into a government house so that not much of the taxpayers’ money is spent to sustain his extravagant lifestyle,” said CiZC in a statement
The statement added that, “The position of a VP is an opportunity to lead and work for the betterment of the lives of ordinary people rather than an opportunity to live an expensive lifestyle.
“At a time the majority of Zimbabweans are living far below the Poverty Datum Line (PDL), estimated to be around US$500, we expect the government to commit resources to the betterment of the lives of ordinary people rather than the sustenance of expensive lifestyles by those in the echelons power.
