Chiyangwa’s wife claims US$1m

Businessman Mr Phillip Chiyangwa’s wife Elizabeth has filed separate court proceedings under High Court number HC10177 in which she is claiming US$1 million once-off maintenance and US$85 000 monthly for her upkeep pending determination of their divorce case.

Mrs Chiyangwa wants US$360 000 to replace her current fleet of vehicles, US$350 000 to cover the legal costs in the divorce proceedings, US$100 000 to replace her current clothing, jewellery and shoes and another US$100 000 to buy new household furniture.

She is also claiming a once-off payment of US$100 000, which she would use as relocation allowance.

At the end of every month pending the finalisation of the divorce proceedings, Mrs Chiyangwa wants accommodation allowance to the tune of US$50 000 and US$5 000 to cover the employment allowances she used to get while working at Mr Chiyangwa’s private school.

She is claiming US$5 000 for groceries and other expenses amounting to US$25 000 every month. Mrs Chiyangwa claims she was accustomed to a wealthy lifestyle.

“Ever since the commencement of our marriage, and for the past 25 years, I have never worked or earned any income of my own, independent of the respondent. I was thus spoilt and pampered as a wife of a very rich man for the past 25 years.

“I was accustomed to a life of unreserved flamboyance and can state without hesitation that I have, for the past 25 years enjoyed a very high standard of living, way beyond that of most, if not indeed the rest of Zimbabwean society, if not the entire African society.

“I have lived and enjoyed the lifestyle of the most famous and richest in the world . . . ” she said.

Mrs Chiyangwa states in her papers that she lived in a designer-made US$50 million matrimonial house built on hard cash without any loans taken.

She said the house has 18 bedrooms, 15 carports, 10 fully-furnished lounges, four balconies, nine furnished servants’ quarters, two swimming pools and others. Mrs Chiyangwa described the matrimonial home as “extravagant, opulent, palatial, and a magnificent showpiece”.

Ms Chiyangwa claims her husband was raking in US$1 363 500 per year from his private schools and other millions from his other businesses.

She listed 40 companies in which she claims Mr Chiyangwa has major shareholding, over 100 stands and built structures, and a fleet of top of the range vehicles, among other properties.

On Monday, Mrs Chiyangwa, through her lawyer Advocate Isaiah Mureriwa, filed the divorce summons and Mr Chiyangwa is yet to respond.

The couple was married in 1986 and their marriage was solemnised in 1988 under Chapter 5:11 0f the Marriages’ Act. Mrs Chiyangwa indicated in her papers that two daughters, who are now adults, were born in the marriage.

She is claiming 85 percent of the wealth they acquired during the subsistence of the marriage. Mrs Chiyangwa cited Mr Chiyangwa’s relationship with several women as the main reason for the divorce.

Both the divorce and the maintenance cases are yet to be set down for hearing at the High Court.

Surprisingly, the detailed list and account of a messy breakup appeared in The Herald newspaper, a ZANU PF mouthpiece that Zimbabweans would expect to protect Chiyangwa, who has the privilege of being Robert Mugabe’s nephew. He was also once an MP for the Chinhoyi constituency.

Reacting to the news Zimbabweans have been astonished at the staggering accumulation of property and wealth, particularly in country where many people are starving.

Political commentator Lameck Mahachi told SW Radio Africa that he was “disgusted”, “shocked” and “flabbergasted” at learning how much wealth Chiyangwa had actually accumulated, saying Zimbabwe had become a gravy train.

“I knew and everybody knows that Chiyangwa is one of the guys who stole a lot. He looted quite a lot. But when I heard of all the Bentleys, the farms and businesses I was disgusted. How could a single person own so much in a country that is on its knees,” Mahachi explained.

“Everybody at ZANU PF is there to loot. They don’t care about the ordinary people, the people they purport to have liberated. There are kids not in school, hospitals are dilapidated and a threat of cholera from contaminated water. Yet they are busy looting,” Mahachi added.

In 2010, Chiyangwa was handpicked by government to appear in a BBC-TV report as a businessman who is “a model of indigenization”. In that report by journalist Sue Lloyd-Roberts, Chiyangwa bragged that he had 2,000 properties in his portfolio, saying they included hotels, hospitals and clinics.

“I must ask you. Do you feel comfortable with all this wealth when so many people in the country are starving?” Lloyd-Roberts asked of Chiyangwa’s wife at the time.

Her response was: “These things are God-given blessings. So if God blesses you with something you have to be grateful. I know there are people starving but these are the blessings from God.”

Mahachi blasted Mrs Chiyangwa for that comment, saying she was “making a mockery” out of God because only ZANU PF seems to be “blessed enough to have some cake”. The Herald/SW Radio Africa