Jet-setting Emmerson Mnangagwa enrages suffering Zimbabweans
The Zimbabwean president was in SA on Tuesday for a conference — the third time in the past week he has travelled outside Zimbabwe
Harare — As Zimbabwe reels from surging inflation and the effects of a devastating cyclone, President Emmerson Mnangagwa is drawing the wrath of the nation’s long-suffering residents with frequent trips abroad. Mnangagwa was in SA on Tuesday for a conference discussing regional support for the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, a region of Morocco that wants independence. It’s the third time in the past week he’s travelled outside Zimbabwe, where flooding caused by Cyclone Idai has killed at least 179 people since March 16. He has hired a private jet for some of the trips, according to the Harare-based Standard newspaper. Four months ago, his government unveiled a budget that set out plans to slash government spending to rein in a deficit that has ballooned to 11.7% of GDP and an inflation rate that surged to 59.4% — the highest in a decade. The state needs funds to fix crumbling infrastructure such as power and water plants, and bridges that fell into disrepair under former presiden...
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