Zimbabwe’s embattled Minister of Finance Professor Mthuli Ncube has been staying at a top class hotel in Harare since his appointment and visits his family in Switzerland monthly using taxpayer’s money.
Speaking to this publication on condition of anonymity a senior government official said despite the fact that the country is faced with serious forex challenges Mthuli was splashing thousands of USD monthly to visit his family in the European country.
“Mthuli is staying at Meikles Hotel since his appointment as finance minister mid last year at tax payers’ account. He also flies monthly to visit his family in Switzerland using government’s coffers.
“While there might be nothing wrong for him to visit his family in Switzerland, he should be using personal funds not to draw forex from the cash strapped government coffers,” said the source.
Tinarwo Maguda a politics student from a local university said while the new administration tries to detach itself from former president Robert Mugabe’s era reality suggests otherwise.
“We witnessed the same situation during Mugabe’s last days in office were his close associates were abusing taxpayers’ money for personal benefits. The likes of former VP Mphoko who spent a year staying in hotel saying there was no house that suits his standards in Harare,” he said.
Several attempts to talk with Prof Ncube proved futile as his mobile number was unreachable.
