Outspoken Norton Member of Parliament {Independent} Temba Mliswa has advised the government to buy a personal private jet for President Emmerson Mnangagwa to cut the country’s traveling costs for presidential foreign trips.
Mliswa’s suggestion is a response to reports against Mnangagwa that he uses a lot of money hiring foreign private jets when visiting other countries.
Recently Mnangagwa reportedly hired a private jet which costs US$30 000 per flying hour for his trip to Davos, Switzerland where he attended the World Economic Forum.
According to ZimLive, the luxury jet P4-CLA, a Boeing 767-2DX(ER) was previously used by the royal family of oil-rich Saudi Arabia.
But Mliswa said the presidential personal private jet will save the country’s money and also enhance Mnangagwa’s security.
“There are repeated accusations of wasting money whenever the President flies out and as I have said, we simply need a private jet. It will be a plane for the office of the President which all Presidents who come in can use. This will save us money and enhance security,” he said.
In 2019, Mnangagwa hired a 12 500 per hour jet from Dubai to fly him on the hour-long journey from Harare to Bulawayo. The Airbus A318-100 flew seven hours and 16 minutes from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to position in Harare, ahead of Mnangagwa’s flight to Bulawayo where he addressed civil society groups.
However, in an interview with a local publication in 2019, President Mnangagwa’s spokesperson George Charamba (GC) said the president would continue to use hired private jets for his trips until the national airline Air Zimbabwe has aeroplanes that are reliable enough to fly him.
He also said Mnangagwa would use private jets until Zimbabwe can purchase a presidential jet.