Own Correspondent|President Emmerson Mnangagwa has left the country for Johannesburg South Africa on yet another private jet putting himself at the risk of fresh public rebuke.
Mnangagwa, who Zimbabweans have already nicknamed Scarfmore Tongombeya because of his numerous flights around the world left Zimbabwe from Robert Mugabe Airport shortly after 3pm and landed at Lanseria Airport in Johannesburg at 4:40pm in an Airbus A319-119CJ Elite hired from Malaysia.
Mnangagwa is attending a SADC Solidarity Conference on Western Sahara, which has been occupied by Morocco since 1975. The conference will confirm the region’s support for the decolonisation of the occupied territory and for the holding of a referendum on self-determination for the Saharawi people.
He was seen off at the Robert Mugabe International Airport by Vice Presidents Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi, senior Government officials and service chiefs.
On Thursday last week, Mnangagwa hired an Airbus A318-112(CJ) Elite from Dubai with registration A6-CAS at an estimated cost of US$200,000 based on the owners’ US$12,500 hourly rate.
MDC spokesman Jacob Mafume said that Mnangagwa, who has faced public criticism for his love for travel on expensive private jets, would rather be anywhere else than Zimbabwe.
“People are using their bare hands to dig for their relatives in the disaster hit districts of Chipinge and Chimanimani, but the man who runs the country keeps finding scarce foreign currency to hire private jets,” Mafume said.
“SADC has not yet held an emergency summit to respond to the cyclone which has killed over a thousand people and left tens of thousands homeless in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa, but they are happy to convene a solidarity conference over far-flung Western Sahara.
“It is clear Mnangagwa would rather be anywhere else than be here at home, where people are crying out for leadership. Zimbabweans deserve a leader who will put them first.”
The visit to South Africa is the 30th foreign trip Mnangagwa has undertaken by private jet, and his third to South Africa, since assuming office in December 2017.