International hunt for Mugabe family assets

Commonwealth, EU and US officials have begun investigating the overseas assets of Robert Mugabe, his family and close associates, in readiness for possible sanctions against Zimbabwe.

EU foreign ministers meet on January 28 to decide if Mr Mugabe genuinely intends to hold free and fair elections in March, with international observers present, and whether he has made efforts to curb violence by his supporters.

In October the EU invoked article 96 of the Cotonou agreement governing relations with African states, which allows for sanctions if a range of issues such as human rights and good governance are not addressed.

The US Congress has already agreed to consult its international partners about a collective response to the Zimbabwean crisis.

Although Mr Mugabe apparently gave assurances about allowing foreign observers and journalists to cover the election at the meeting of the Southern African Development Community in Malawi on Monday, formal invitations have yet to be issued.

Tracking assets salted away by Mr Mugabe, his family and political friends will not be easy, as the president himself has managed to avoid the scandals that have swirled around some of his ministers, top civil servants and generals.

Yet the Mugabes have been able to acquire a string a properties in the country, including a new £6m mansion in a quiet Harare suburb.

He himself has acknowledged corruption in his cabinet. In 1999 he told ministers: "I know they [international contractors] are buying you for tenders and that some of you are accepting huge bribes."

The Zimbabwean magazine Legal Forum has described the country as a "racketeering state" characterised by minimal economic development, stagnation leading to recession and unbridled greed by the ruling elite.

But unlike the crude daylight robbery of Sani Abacha and his circle in Nigeria, the money trail left by Mr Mugabe's associates is likely to be sophisticated.

Reports of the personal enrichment of Mr Mugabe's associates and close relations have been legion, particularly after the military intervention in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where secretive joint ventures were set up to exploit the vast resources of diamonds and minerals.

His own extravagance, and that of his wife, has caused a national outcry.

In the 1990s Mr Mugabe was Africa's most-travelled president. According to an investigation by the Zimbabwe Independent business weekly, he spent £180m in the decade on fuel alone for commandeered Air Zimbabwe planes to fly to to more than 150 countries.

His party, Zanu-PF, is also an international business empire with a vast array of interests held through part ownership of a company called Zidco Holdings. Set up shortly after independence, Zidco has stakes in numerous aspect of the Zimbabwean economy, from property and duty-free shops to building materials and army supplies.

Run by a southern African family originally from Malaysia, its assets and profits are a secret, guarded by two key Mugabe allies on the board: the former justice and security ministers Emmerson Mnangagwa and Sidney Sekeramayi.

A couple of years ago Mr Mugabe whimsically told a journalist that if he ever found himself out of a job (presidential salary around £16,000 a year), he could go back to teaching and his wife Grace could earn a crust by sewing.

But investigators are expecting to find rather more substantial assets.

Among the pleasures of life for Mr and Mrs Mugabe have been their regular shopping expeditions to London.

If sanctions bite, the couple may find that their credit line this spring is considerably diminished.