Retirement deal for Mugabe

Robert Mugabe will get a house, a fleet of private cars and guaranteed firstclass air travel as part of a retirement package funded by the Zimbabwean Government.

Mugabe, who was deposed in a coup last month after 37 years as President of Zimbabwe, will also maintain at least 20 staff including security guards at taxpayers’ expense, state media reported.

The generous retirement package was laid out in list of benefits for former presidents of Zimbabwe published by Emmerson Mnangagwa, who replaced Mugabe as head of state following the coup.

Mugabe resigned on November 21 after he was placed under house arrest by the army, expelled from the Zanu-PF party that he founded and threatened with impeachment in a mostly non-violent coup. Mnangagwa, a long-term ally who fell out with Mugabe after losing a power struggle with Grace Mugabe, the thenfirst lady, was installed as President on November 24.

The retirement package published in the Herald, a newspaper based in Harare, does not mention monetary benefits for the former President.

Independent media reported last month that Mugabe was promised a US$10 million ($14m) pension in negotiations for his resignation.

It says a retired president is entitled to a pension equivalent to his or her salary while in office. The document says a retired president will be provided with either an official residence or a private home built on his or her own land and not exceeding five bedrooms.