Shropshire Star

Zimbabwe’s late president Robert Mugabe left £7.7m and several houses

Some view that estate as far too modest for the former leader, who was accused of presiding over grand corruption.

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Robert Mugabe

Former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe left 10 million US dollars (£7.7 million) and several houses when he died in September, according to the first official list of assets to be made public.

The wealth of Zimbabwe’s long-time leader was long a mystery, and some view that estate as far too modest for Mugabe, who ruled for 37 years and was accused by critics of accumulating vast riches and presiding over grand corruption.

The report by the state-run Herald newspaper did not mention any overseas assets, although it is thought that Mugabe had properties in neighbouring South Africa and in Asia.

The report said there appears to be no will, although lawyers are still looking for one. The report cites the lawyers as saying the law stipulates that Mugabe’s wife Grace and children will inherit the property in that case.

Mugabe also left behind a farm, 10 cars and 27 acres of land that included an orchard at his rural home where he was buried. His daughter Bona registered the estate on behalf of the family, the report said.

More than a dozen farms are publicly known to have been seized from black and white farmers by the late strongman’s family.

He died of cancer in a Singapore hospital at the age of 95 nearly two years after he was forced to resign by Zimbabwe’s military and ruling party.

Many in the southern African nation say the country he left behind has fallen deeper into economic and political crisis, with a growing hunger problem that a United Nations expert last month called “shocking” for a state not at war.

Half of Zimbabwe’s population, or more than seven million people, is experiencing severe hunger, the UN World Food Programme said on Tuesday, calling it a “vicious cycle of sky-rocketing malnutrition that’s hitting women and children hardest”.

It plans to more than double the number of people it helps to four million but said delivering aid will be complicated by “surging prices” for basic items and a regional drought that has hurt food supplies.

Critics blame the overall crisis on the administration of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who has struggled to fulfil promises of prosperity since taking power in 2017.

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