The Observer - 23 February 2014 - 7
Maintaining the Mugabe lifestyle
A
s he turns 90, Zimbabwe’s plundering
president is still adept at feathering his
family nest, writes Peta Thornycroft.
Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe, who turns 90 on Friday is busy with two
matters close to his heart: his daughter’s wedding, and
the game he has played all his political life: ensuring
those most likely to succeed him are at each other’s
throats. That game is proving a tad more troubling
than usual.
His daughter Bona’s wedding early next month
will be lavish and important for his family.
So Mugabe flicked a switch at the Harare
municipality to ensure all potholes on the way to the
residence where the wedding reception will be held
are filled.
The garden at the Mugabes’ mansion is huge
and lovely, with two lakes. An army of civil servants
maintains it. It is surrounded by kilometres of high
wall, with a stripe at the top painted in Grace’s
favourite colour, turquoise.
Zimbabweans learnt about this “palace”, as it is
known in the streets, in 2003. An architect’s bill of
quantities showed it cost more than Mugabe has
officially earned since independence.
This was the first real inkling Zimbabweans
had that Mugabe, a self-proclaimed socialist, was
wealthier than should have been possible, even with
canny investing.
There was hardly any formal opposition t