Mugabe builds villa amid hunger in Zimbabwe

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2003-08-31 03:07am

Mugabe builds villa amid hunger in Zimbabwe

LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Builders are putting the finishing touches to a retirement estate for President Robert Mugabe that will rival the most extravagant of African leaders' residences.

The project is the latest sign of how his regime is prospering while vast numbers of his country's people are close to starvation. The World Food Program estimates that 5.5 million Zimbabweans — almost half the population — will need hunger relief by the end of the year.

Several architects who have seen aerial pictures of Mr. Mugabe's new mansion, 16 miles north of Harare, say it looks as large as a medium-size hotel.

Surveyors in Harare estimated the cost of the building at $5.89 million — a colossal sum in a country where some factory workers earn less than $10 a month. Final costs, including for landscaping, security and interior decoration, are expected to push the bill to more than $9 million.

Contractors are working feverishly on the fittings, and two lakes built for Mr. Mugabe on the southern boundary are being filled.

The residence offers more than 3 acres of accommodation, mostly on three floors, including two-story reception rooms, an office suite, and up to 25 bedrooms with adjoining bathrooms and spas. The Chinese-style roof is clad in midnight-blue glazed tiles from Shanghai. The ceilings were decorated by Arab craftsmen.

Sources in the building industry say landscaping and interior decoration — supervised by Mr. Mugabe's wife, Grace, known for her expensive tastes — will be done by South Africans.

The site manager, Alexandre Illic, said last week that the building had been completed about a month ago. It was built by a former Yugoslav company, Energoproject, which has had close links with Mr. Mugabe.

The mansion is more than three times the size of Mr. Mugabe's present official residence and his offices at State House in the capital, Harare.

Its scale has raised opposition concerns that if — as is widely expected — Mr. Mugabe steps down as leader of his ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front party at the annual congress in December, or maybe after his 80th birthday in February, real power will move from his official government offices to his new residence.

"It had always been assumed that Mugabe himself has not been corrupt. The size of this house would suggest otherwise and will further complicate the negotiation process as Mugabe seeks to secure a peaceful exit," said David Coltart, the justice spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. "He must explain to Zimbabweans where he got the money from to build such a mansion."

The Daily Telegraph faxed questions to Mr. Mugabe's Harare office, asking how the residence was financed, but received no reply.

Since coming to power 23 years ago — first as prime minister and then as executive president — Mr. Mugabe has officially earned a total of less than $1 million, including various allowances. Last month, he increased his annual salary 1,000 percent to the equivalent of about $36,000.

The European Union and the United States have refused to fund regional projects in which Zimbabwe is involved and have imposed sanctions to protest Mr. Mugabe's disputed re-election last year, which was judged fraudulent by some international observers.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2003-08-31 03:42am

wait... in an HOUR I make more then they do in a MONTH!!!

woah, except for the fact it's a total HEll Hole and they hate Euros like me, I could live like a king over there...

LordShaithis · Post by **LordShaithis** » 2003-08-31 04:09am

Yeah, you can live like the king of a shithole. All the skanky vegetables and pissed-in drinking water you can handle.

Warspite · Post by **Warspite** » 2003-08-31 07:26am

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh... That's so sweet of them!

(I case anyone lost their brains, I'm being sarcastic.)

Xenophobe3691 · Post by **Xenophobe3691** » 2003-08-31 10:25am

Wow. Yet again, we see that lots of money corrupts a lot. If we actually had some real people running Africa, they'd do quite well.

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2003-08-31 10:55am

Vorlon1701 wrote:Wow. Yet again, we see that lots of money corrupts a lot. If we actually had some real people running Africa, they'd do quite well.

Real people DO run Africa. Real, greedy, short-sighted, wasteful, aggressive people, but real people nonetheless.

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2003-08-31 11:52am

Well, he certainly knows how to be a bloody disgusting tyrant in style.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-08-31 03:59pm

Sounds nice. I wonder how many 2000-pound bombs would be needed to cause structural collapse?

Xenophobe3691 · Post by **Xenophobe3691** » 2003-08-31 04:12pm

Iceberg wrote:
Vorlon1701 wrote:Wow. Yet again, we see that lots of money corrupts a lot. If we actually had some real people running Africa, they'd do quite well.
Real people DO run Africa. Real, greedy, short-sighted, wasteful, aggressive people, but real people nonetheless.

That's the worst part

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2003-08-31 05:20pm

<PICARD>But you can't pass judgement on their society. Don't be judgemental simply because Mugabe's cultural values are different from yours</PICARD>

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2003-08-31 05:24pm

Sea Skimmer wrote:Sounds nice. I wonder how many 2000-pound bombs would be needed to cause structural collapse?

I say we just designate it as a testing target for any new bomb designs that come out

Axis Kast · Post by **Axis Kast** » 2003-08-31 11:30pm

It's rather interesting, you know. We're fast approaching the time when Mugabe will be a legitimate target for assassination - that is, one who is not likely to be suceeded by anybody worse than himself. Considering what a mess he's made of the national economy over the past two decades and a half, even the returning National Army troops from Zaire (now the Congo) won't be able to stomach him much longer.

jezrianna · Post by **jezrianna** » 2003-09-01 12:04am

Jesus Bloody Christ, kill the stupid bastard and replace him with a civilised government, and quit rubbing your hands about it! You libs never fail to amaze me when it comes to how much you're willing to let your fellow humans suffer just so you can avoid crushing a dictator.

Nathan F · Post by **Nathan F** » 2003-09-01 12:42am

Why the hell haven't we taken down this sorry SOB yet?

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-09-01 12:45am

Nathan F wrote:Why the hell haven't we taken down this sorry SOB yet?

The British came very close two years ago to committing a brigade-sized force to the country. Their mission wouldn't have been to topple Mugabe but it would have been a likely side effect. But then the attacks on whites, most of who where British citizens, where greatly reduced in number.

Axis Kast · Post by **Axis Kast** » 2003-09-01 12:58am

Do try to keep in mind that assassination is for many nations an officially "taboo" affair.

One should also avoid stereotyping the situation. Not every dictator is as easily dealt with as Mugabe. Most - Saddam Hussein is the text-book example - have power structures and hierarchies that would continue the dictatorial trend, just as before. It just so happens that Zimbabwe is one of the few places where the military would probably be the lesser of two evils.

Tatterdemalion · Post by **Tatterdemalion** » 2003-09-01 05:26am

jezrianna wrote:Jesus Bloody Christ, kill the stupid bastard and replace him with a civilised government, and quit rubbing your hands about it! You libs never fail to amaze me when it comes to how much you're willing to let your fellow humans suffer just so you can avoid crushing a dictator.

Um, don't mean to be rude here but you do realise that we, the members of this board have diddly squat influence on US foreign policy, besides the American members having a vote once every four years?

In any case the unless I've really been neglecting the news lately the USA is currently under republican administration, so I hardly think you can blame left-wingers for inaction. (Not that the Democrats or the Greens would do anything either.)

Fact is it isn't currently in US intrests to depose of Mugabe, and there isn't enough popular support for a war against Zimbabwe to make it so. (Or a convenient oil reserve *ducks*)

Gil Hamilton · Post by **Gil Hamilton** » 2003-09-01 10:01am

Nathan F wrote:Why the hell haven't we taken down this sorry SOB yet?

Why would the US bother? It doesn't serve US interests, since Zimbabwe has no real resources or a strategic location. It seems that human suffering is only something you tell the public to get them behind you, not a reason in itself to knock down a dictator.

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2003-09-01 05:42pm

jezrianna wrote:Jesus Bloody Christ, kill the stupid bastard and replace him with a civilised government, and quit rubbing your hands about it! You libs never fail to amaze me when it comes to how much you're willing to let your fellow humans suffer just so you can avoid crushing a dictator.

Notice:

1: Not policy makers. Sci-fi geeks. We have roughly zero policy making power in any of our nations.

2: Conservative politicians are in power.

3: Geopolitically, Zimbabwe means two things to American interests: Jack and shit. We can't go around stumbling over our own feet every time some tin-potter gets power. That's a very quick way to overextend the government.

4: Please go home. Your village is getting very lonely for its idiot.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2003-09-01 05:44pm

jezrianna wrote:Jesus Bloody Christ, kill the stupid bastard and replace him with a civilised government, and quit rubbing your hands about it! You libs never fail to amaze me when it comes to how much you're willing to let your fellow humans suffer just so you can avoid crushing a dictator.

No geopolitical importance.

TheDarkling · Post by **TheDarkling** » 2003-09-01 06:27pm

Blair should have gone after Mugabe instead of going along on the Iraqi adventure, Zimbabwe is far more of our affair than Iraq was, that although I would prefer we dealt with both situations I think Zimbabwe should have come first.