President Robert Mugabe and his family are beneficial shareholders in an airline that is expected to be handed lucrative long-haul licences to London and the far East, Zimbabwe’s trusted Financial Gazette has reported.
The report alleges that Zimbabwe Airways’ holding company has a Mauritius registration. An online search on the Mauritian registry did not yield any result, suggesting the company could have been registered under a name other than Zimbabwe Airways.
The FinGaz goes further to claim that Mugabes’ son-in-law, Simba Chikore, the current chief operating officer at Air Zimbabwe (AirZim), has been instrumental in setting the new airline up and is tipped to become its chief executive officer.
Contacted for comment by The Financial Gazette, Transport Minister Jorum Gumbo denied reports that the Mugabe family owned Zimbabwe Airways. The Minister refused to disclose the airline’s owners, only saying it belongs to a consortium of local and non-resident Zimbabweans.
Zimbabwe Airways is reportedly set to lease planes from Malaysia Airlines.
Details around the new airline have been a closely guarded secret.
