Tsvangirai served as Prime Minister in the coalition government between 2009 and 2013 before losing a hotly-disputed election that gave Mugabe the sole mandate.
BY RICHARD CHIDZA
In a letter to NewsDay, in which he sought to clarify issues around his interactions with Mugabe, including reports he had secretly been given money to pay for his medical bills, Tsvangirai, through his spokesperson, Luke Tamborinyoka, claimed that Mugabe owed him and had rejected overtures to meet.
“Robert Mugabe’s government still owes president Tsvangirai his pension for the time he served in government in a stint that brought respite to the people of Zimbabwe,” Tamborinyoka said.
He said Mugabe was angry because Tsvangirai refused to endorse the 2013 general election result.
“Mugabe expected president Tsvangirai to confer him legitimacy by endorsing the 2013 fraud and publicly conceding defeat, which the former PM has refused to do. As a result, any discussions with Mugabe himself have been denied, while the processing of all pensions and payments due to him has not been done.”
Mugabe, according to Tamborinyoka, last met Tsvangirai a day before the July 31, 2013 elections with former Nigerian leader Olusegun Obasanjo mediating.
Tsvangirai lamented that Mugabe had seen it fit to pay former Rhodesian strongman Ian Smith and others severance packages, yet his went unpaid. Our sister paper, Zimbabwe Independent, reported that Mugabe’s government had given Tsvangirai $70 000 to cover his health costs.
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Tsvangirai continues to stay in a government house, much to the dismay of some party members and this was one of the issues that led to the split of MDC-T in 2014.
Former Cabinet minister Paul Mangwana, who was a co-chairperson of the Parliamentary Select Committee that crafted the new Constitution, said legally Tsvangirai had no locus standi to claim a pension.
“The position of Prime Minister was a temporary arrangement that is not catered for by our law. The PM was an MP and minister, so he would have been covered under the Parliamentary Pensions Act Chapter 2:02, but only if he had served two full terms,” he explained.
“He did not and, hence, he is not entitled to anything except maybe if he can claim his leave days.”
Constitutional law expert Lovemore Madhuku said: “No, he does not have. There is no such thing. It’s nonsense, illogical and immoral. The inclusive government was a special arrangement. The post he held was for a temporary measure and there is no pension that accrues.”
He added: “It’s basically a lack of morals and trying to cover up for the $70 000 he reportedly received. In all his arguments, he has never pointed to a legal instrument or statute and that shows you it’s nothing more than political dust.”
