Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has been drawn into another scandal, this time involving alleged theft of $1.5 million funds allocated to his office for the construction of his official residence in Harare.
Less than a month after he was accused of being connected to a bribery scandal involving alleged use of money to buy local editors, Tsvangirai is now accused of misappropriating $1.5 million in public funds released by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe in 2009 meant to buy a house in an up-market Harare suburb.
State radio reported on Tuesday that the Premier is likely to face fraud charges amid allegations that he “double-dipped” by accessing $1.5 million from the RBZ and a similar amount from the Ministry of Finance for the same purpose.
The house, a double story mansion, is currently under renovations to ensure it meets standard quarters for a Premier.
However, observers say the accusations are part of a plot by hardline elements in Zimbabwe’s shaky coalition government who want to quicken the collapse of the three-year-old "marriage" of convenience between Tsvangirai and long-serving President Robert Mugabe.
The same hardliners wanted the Odinga probed early this month over allegations that he bribed editors of three private newspapers to write positively about his party and personal life.
Source African Press Agency
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