Sunday Times 2
Vast wealth of Mugabe’s inner circle revealed in divorce case
The ludicrous wealth of Robert Mugabe’s inner circle has come to light in a divorce case. The assets of Phillip Chiyangwa, a cousin of the ruthless Zimbabwean dictator, are worth £180 million, according to his wife, Elizabeth, who’s seeking 85 per cent of them.
She said in a statement made to the Harare high court that she lived a life of ‘unreserved flamboyance’ and shared a house with Mr Chiyangwa that contained 43 rooms. She claimed that his assets also include a Rolls-Royce Phantom worth £290,000, a Bentley worth just over £213,000, as well as various Mercedes-Benz and sports utility vehicles, The Telegraph reported.
The cars are worth £911,000 in total. The court hearing also revealed that he has over 50 houses, several being large, luxuriously appointed properties in upmarket areas – and over a dozen industrial buildings. In all, he has 109 properties, which also include hotels and shopping centres.
She said in a statement: ‘I was accustomed to a life of unreserved flamboyance and can state without hesitation that I have, for the past 25 years, enjoyed a very high standard of living, way beyond that of most, if not indeed the rest of Zimbabwean society, if not the entire African society.’
It’s very rare for any details about the lifestyle of Zimbabwe’s ruling elite to be revealed. But Mr Chiyangwa defended his in an interview with The Telegraph. He said: ‘Many of those properties listed by my wife are not mine. They belong to other businessmen.
‘The valuations are from 2008, from the hyperinflationary era and my assets are held in trust.’ An anonymous source told the paper that how Mr Chiyangwa accumulated the wealth was a mystery. Elizabeth has cited infidelity as the reason for seeking a divorce with Mr Chiyangwa, with whom she has two daughters.
© Daily Mail, London