Mugabe Palace Hints at Plans to Stay

Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe, is building a lavish palace costing £3.75m on the outskirts of the capital, Harare.

Furnishings and security are expected to send the cost to more than £6m at a time when nearly half of Zimbabwe's population is dependent on international food aid.

Its sprawling accommodation includes 25 bedrooms with bathrooms and spas. It is three times the size of the president's official residence, State House, and his adjacent offices.

The mansion, located in the upmarket Borrowdale Brooke area, about 15 miles north of the city centre, is nearing completion. The construction company Energoproject, based in Belgrade, is building the palace.

Mr Mugabe has built smaller mansions in Harare and Zvimba, his birthplace, as well a Chivu, the birthplace of his wife, Grace.

The construction of a helicopter pad and extensive communications lines at the new site cast doubt over Mr Mugabe's intention to retire from politics, suggesting that he intends to continue running the country from his new home.

The current negotiations between Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change hinge on the president retiring as chairman of the party at its annual congress in December. Another possible retirement date would be his 80th birthday in February.

Once Mr Mugabe steps down, the two parties could draw up a transitional arrangement that would lead to free elections.

"The whole point of this mansion is that Mugabe is unlikely to step down from power," said John Makumbe, a political science lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe.

"This is not a sign that Mugabe is preparing to go. It is a sign that Mugabe expects to carry on with business as usual and to live like a monarch while the rest of the country is mired in poverty."

Mr Makumbe, also a member of the anti-corruption group, Transparency International, asked where Mr Mugabe got the funds to build the colossal structure as its cost outstripped his annual salary of £23,000.

"It is an affront to the suffering people of Zimbabwe," Mr Makumbe said. "It shows that Mugabe will need a further push to convince him that he really must negotiate an end to his reign."