A cousin of Robert Mugabe accumulated assets worth an estimated 180 million ($360 million), according to a divorce case in Zimbabwe that has thrown a spotlight on the vast wealth acquired by the regime's inner circle.
Details of Phillip Chiyangwa's assets were placed before the Harare high court by his wife, Elizabeth, who is seeking 85 per cent of her husband's assets and maintenance of 53,000 a month for 10 years.
Although Zimbabweans are aware that some prominent members of the ruling Zanu-PF party have grown very rich since independence in 1980, it is unusual for details to be exposed. The economy teetered on the brink of collapse for several years before picking up recently, though the World Food Programme is still seeking funding to feed about two million people.
The list of Chiyangwa's assets included more than 100 properties, many of them large houses in the capital's best suburbs, and more than a dozen industrial properties. There are several farms on the list, although it is not clear whether these were taken from white farmers since the start of Zanu-PF's land grab in 2000, or whether Chiyangwa, 63, bought them. Elizabeth Chiyangwa also claims her husband owns a Rolls-Royce Phantom and a Bentley, which she valued at 290,000 and 213,000 respectively, as well as a fleet of Mercedes-Benz vehicles and a range of sports utility vehicles. The home the couple shared, not far from Mugabe's private mansion in Harare, has 43 rooms.
The asset register lodged with the court listed more than 40 companies, including engineering, manufacturing and finance firms.
