The wealth of political leaders seems to have a relationship with their length of stay in office. This tends to lead many to seek perpetual stay in office or tenure elongation.
Presidents who have stayed long in office tend to have accumulated wealth mostly from illegal sources.
Could Robert Mugabe be called rich? –
This begs the question; what was Robert Mugabe’s net worth?
According to celebritynetworth.com, Mugabe had a net worth of U.S $20million.
But that’s not all.
In 2011, Wikileaks published a communique written by the U.S. embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital that suggested Mugabe’s wealth to be around a billion U.S. dollars.
The memo indicated that most of Mugabe’s assets are outside Zimbabwe in places such as Switzerland, Channel Island, Hong Kong etc.
His Hong Kong property is valued at more than U.S $5million.
Wikileaks also revealed that in Zimbabwe, the Mugabe family had six residences, a number of farms and a multi-story building then under construction.
The mansion, popularly called The Blue Roof has been valued by a Zimbabwean media group, the Citizen, to be worth U.S $9million.
The Citizen also listed what it says are other Mugabe family “toys and trinkets” these include; a custom-made Mercedes Benz “able to withstand AK-47 bullets, landmines and grenades. The Mercedes also features a CD and DVD player, internet access and anti-bugging devices.”
A Rolls Royce Phantom edition that is so exclusive, “only 18 were ever manufactured.”
A 100-carat anniversary ring ordered by Grace Mugabe valued at U.S $1.35million.
The former first lady, Grace Mugabe, whom local media tag as “the First Shopper” or “Gucci Grace,” may have once gone on a U.S $75,000 shopping spree in Paris, according to the U.K. Guardian newspaper.
Do we know how Mugabe’s wealth was acquired? –
The Economist alleged that the land redistribution project was one of the sources of his wealth.
White Zimbabwean farmers had their lands taken away and it ended up with his loyalists and that funded his wealth.
Wikileaks added that Mugabe maintained a close relationship with many people in Congo after the country’s five-year civil war and possibly benefited from the conflict stones that emerged from the unrest.
Global Witness linked Congo’s Conflict Diamonds to Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC). A company that was formed in the last few years by Mugabe.
The full extent of the Mugabe wealth may not be known but the legacies of his rule is still very much alive with Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans.