Mphoko's Son Defends Dad's Profligacy When He Was Vice President
Former Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko’s son, Siqokoqela, has defended his father’s one-and-a-half-year stay in a hotel at taxpayers’ expense.
Mphoko stayed in a hotel for more than a year after he was appointed Vice President by the late former president Robert Mugabe in 2014.
Siqokoqela said the arrangement allowed the government to save a lot of money for taxpayers as his father didn’t have a maid, a lot of security, and electricity bills among other expenses.
He was speaking during an online programme, This Morning on Asakhe, hosted by CITE on Twitter Space on Monday. Siqokoqela said:
Well, look when I used to go up to Harare I would meet him at the Rainbow Towers so but that was a government-owned hotel.
Having stayed in a hotel now, how much does it cost for him to stay in one room? Do you think this man never wanted to walk out in a garden?
You think he didn’t want to breathe the fresh air, he didn’t want to be on the top floor or something, so that’s no. He was at a hotel.
He stayed in a hotel for about a year and a half or something while they were looking for suitable accommodation for him.
He said his father had offered to go and stay in his house in Mount Pleasant. Added Siqokoqela:
But look how much it cost? He actually saved a lot of money for the taxpayers.
The government actually saved a lot of money for taxpayers while he was taking a hotel because he didn’t have a maid, he didn’t have that security around him.
If he stayed in a mansion, you would pay 10 times more than the electricity bills.
A listener identified as Douglas Mandaza said Siqokoqela was justifying the Government’s profligacy because his father is still benefiting from the system. Said Mandaza:
His father probably benefited; he is not going to say much. He probably benefited from the new government.
That’s why he still has the security. That’s why he still has the vehicles from the government.
So if he’s eating, you will probably be quiet. Hence he’s coming in here and justifying what the government is doing.
