For decades, Zimbabwe has been experiencing some of the worst economic setbacks, with poor citizens being forced to dig deeper into their empty pockets to fund an already crippled economy.
Right now, the South African nation has been forced to replace its local currency with bond notes due to prolonged cash shortages that have led to panic-buying and mass bank withdrawals as people predict a major shortage in basic commodities.
What’s worse, the country’s veteran President Robert Mugabe, who has been in power for more than three decades, seems to have delegated his powers to friends and family members who have often been accused of plundering the country’s meager resources.
Last week, a Zimbabwean council of churches condemned Mugabe’s government for making bad financial decisions, excessive spending, corruption and greed, insisting that the current cash shortages in the country are as a result of the government’s overindulgence.
Wasteful Spending
But even before Mugabe could think over the concerns raised by the clergy, his wife Grace Mugabe has hit the headlines onece again after reports emerged that she recently bought herself a brand new Rolls-Royce worth nearly half a million dollars.
It has been reported that the controversial First Lady sent someone to South Africa “to pay R5.8 million in cash” for the lavish car – a Rolls-Royce 2017 Ghost model. Grace is yet to comment on the allegations.
This revelation comes barely a month after president Mugabe’s son, Russell Goreraza, was reported to have imported two Rolls-Royce limousines and a couple of other luxury vehicles into the country.
The reports have sparked outrage across Zimbabwe with some people accusing the first family of wasting state funds on a luxurious lifestyle.
Grace Mugabe and her son competing to waste state funds on luxury cars. Ndivo vana Judas Iscariot, economic saboteurs busy looting forex. pic.twitter.com/1LpDZxxBcJ
— Jones Musara (@JonesMusara) September 29, 2017
As many Zimbabweans get poorer Grace Mugabe’s son buys two Rolls https://t.co/wRpI86QE8y
— NICHOLAS SENGOBA (@nsengoba) September 22, 2017
Is Grace Mugabe’s ego so big to the extend that she refuses to see what’s on her doorstep?Sorrounded by bootlickers & yes sayers.False life
— Huyai tipeme (@HuyaiTipeme) September 22, 2017
Although the Zimbabwean First Lady and any other member of her family has the right to own whichever car they so wish, it’s absolutely reckless and insulting for the Mugabes to be spending so much money on lavish things while the rest of the country is wallowing in poverty.
It’s even more puzzling to imagine how the First Lady and his son could afford to raise such large amounts of money at a time when the Zimbabwean government is struggling to pay its workers. What is even worse is the fact that nobody in the country can question the authority.
Just last week, the government of Zimbabwe took the controversial pastor Evan Mawarire to court with serious charges of subversion after he called on Zimbabweans to revolt against rising food prices and fuel shortages in the country.
It’s a crisis that majority of Zimbabweans wish would end soon. But unfortunately the elderly President insists on running for another term in the coming elections slated for August 2018. So, the question is: Who will rescue Zimbabwe?
