Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his wife, Grace, are running up huge unpaid electricity bills on their many farms seized from white people, while ordinary Zimbabweans endure constant power cuts.
The Mugabes owe nearly R3 million for power delivered by the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa).
It has not cut them off although tens of thousands of poor Zimbabweans have had their electricity cut for non-payment of bills.
Grace Mugabe grabbed a high-quality dairy farm about 30km west of Harare.
She installed the latest and most expensive equipment for her poorly managed milk production, which used to supply Swiss company Nestlé. At one time the milk her farm was producing was found to be slightly “off” despite her modern equipment, the best in Zimbabwe, supplied to her by SA importers of European dairy products.
This week, Energy Minister Elton Mangoma, of the Movement for Democratic Change, claimed that the increasing power cuts were being caused by Mozambique cutting off electricity from Hydro Cahora Bassa, although this was denied in Maputo.
Mangoma has been on a revenue collection campaign to try to bring in money from tens of thousands of Zimbabweans who have stopped paying their power bills.
According to the Daily News in Harare, the Mugabes owe money for power to their farms in Mazowe and a clutch of farms he took north of Harare.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai told parliament this week that he had paid about R40 000 to Zesa for power at his house in Harare.
Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, a Zanu-PF hardliner, owes Zesa more than R1 million for power to his farms and homes, as does one of Mugabe’s closest aides, Didymus Mutasa.
The Daily News says Central Intelligence Organisation boss Happyton Bonyongwe, armed forces boss General Constantine Chiwenga and other top Zanu-PF hardliners also owe Zesa millions.
Police chief Augustine Chihuri owes nearly R1 million for power delivered to the prime farm he took for himself soon after land invasions began in 2000.
The former Zanu-PF administration left Zesa in a shocking state, unable to pay for power imports from SA and in debt to Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo. One of its main power sources, the Hwange power station in western Zimbabwe, was operating at below half of its capacity.
All but a few of the elite and those living near hospitals endure up to 18 hours a day without power and many farmers cure their tobacco crop using generators, which hugely increases production costs.
Mugabe’s home about 20km north of Harare is maintained and funded with taxpayers’ money. – Peta Thornycroft from the Independent Foreign Service