Zimbabwe: Should Tax Payers Continue to Fund Mugabe's Vacations?

Robert Gabriel Mugabe served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017 before handing over to current president Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, who is nicknamed 'crocodile' and was a member of Mugabe's cabinet.

Among the enormous benefits Mnangagwa agreed to give his former boss are; salary for life, general upkeep, funding for medical bills and continuous sponsorship of his extravagant trips abroad.

Zimbabwe: Should Tax Payers Continue to Fund Mugabe's Vacations?

While in power as the president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe barely stayed back in the country during his annual holidays; his pattern was to leave Harare in December and return in February before his birthday celebrations - which was another period of festivities.

According to reports, the former president who just recently returned from Singapore - where government of the country has said he would travel regularly to for medical treatment, is set to travel with his family for their annual vacation to the far East at the expense of tax payers money in the country.

You will recall that Mugabe has became a frequent visitor of Asia and the far East since he was banned from entering Western capitals over allegations of human rights abuses and electoral chicanery while he was president of Zimbabwe.

The president has not hidden the news that the former leader and his entire family are still being catered for by the government and that all their expenses are put on the country's tabs.

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Now 94 years of age, Mugabe only recently returned back to Zimbabwe from Singapore after undergoing treatment for an undisclosed ailment for two months.

During this time, the president had reveled at a political rally that Mugabe could no longer walk and has become very weak due to his old age.

Surprisingly, the claims were blatantly denied by the National Patriotic Front (NPF) spokesman, Mawarire, who said Mnangagwa "lies more than he tells the truth" and said that the former president was strong, hale and healthy.

In an exclusive report last month, NewZimbabwe.com revealed that Mugabe's health "is keeping with his age" and that the former leader was in contact with the Mnangagwa administration "through the relevant institutions of the State".

Should Mugabe continue to receive these privileges at the expense of the country or should the government cut his expenses off?