By Paul Nyathi| As the debate continues on the controversial purchasing of disused and decommissioned passenger jets from Malaysia, former President Robert Mugabe’s son- in-law Simba Chikore has said he is doing a service to the country on the Zimbabwe Airways project and is not on a self-enrichment exercise.

Chikore, has been at the forefront of setting up Zim Airways, an airline the government claims was being established to complement the struggling Air Zimbabwe.

Transport minister Jorum Gumbo and Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa have failed to explain the rationale behind the setting-up of the airline amid speculation it was a Mugabe family venture.

However, Chikore is quoted by the weekly Standard on Saturday saying Mugabe was not involved in the setting-up of the airline and that he was only providing technical expertise.

“That’s the extent to which we can say the former president was involved. When you talk about me, I am a professional and I am not going to go around trying to defend myself, people will know the truth and people are smart enough,” he said.

“If people are interested they can go to the registrar of companies to see who owns the company, they’ll see the CR40, they’ll see the CR6, they will see the stakeholder, and my name is not there.

“The company itself belongs to the government of Zimbabwe, the proof is there and it’s public knowledge.

“I don’t have to go loud and say they are not my planes. In fact, where would I get that kind of money to buy the aircraft?”, he reportedly said.

His comments come amid complaints that the government of Zimbabwe wasted over 40 million dollars buying the passenger aircraft, without adequate research and consultation on the usability thereof. The revelations will now bring to the fore questions on who exactly was behind the dodgy deal.