Business People Paid For Private Plane Used By Grace Mugabe To Attend Mother’s Funeral- Charamba

In an interview with The Herald yesterday, Presidential spokesperson George Charamba clarified that Government did not pay to hire a chartered plane for former First Lady Grace Mugabe.

Charamba said the plane was paid for by business people approached by President Mnangagwa to fly former president, Robert Mugabe, who was scheduled to travel to Singapore for urgent medical attention. It is not clear what the business people got in return for hiring a plane that is believed to have cost a minimum of $550 000. Said Charamba:

Aware of the Government obligations and realising the urgency of the whole matter, President Mnangagwa approached a group of business people and pleaded with them to assist with the movement of the former President. Consequently, the group of business people committed resources for chartering a private jet to fly the former President to Singapore and back. As fate would have it, on the eve of the former President’s departure, the condition of Ambuya Marufu deteriorated leading to her sad passing on. That forced the former President to cancel his travel arrangement given that Amai Grace Mugabe was also not just unwell but out of the country. The President then pleaded with the same business people to allow the private jet which had been paid for anyway, to still to proceed to Singapore as per the original schedule but this time with a view to collecting Amai Mugabe back home in the light of the bereavement. Again, the business people were charitable enough to accede to the request which is how the jet was then availed to Amai Mugabe.

Also Read:

• Mnangagwa Paid At Least $550 000 To Hire Plane For Grace Using Private Funds

• Grace Mugabe Praises Mnangagwa For Hiring Private Plane

More: Chronicle