Cash-strapped Zimbabwe today announced plans to build a $1 billion university to honor its 93-year old President Robert Mugabe.
Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Minister, Jonathan Moyo told journalists that the government approved a $1 billion grant to fund the establishment of Zimbabwe’s first graduate school, the Robert Gabriel Mugabe University to be built in Mazowe, about 36 kilometers northwest of Harare.
“Cabinet has approved a grant of $800 million towards the construction of the Robert Gabriel Mugabe University, and a grant of $200 million towards the establishment of the University’s Endowment Fund for Research and Innovation,” said Moyo.
The institution, which will have a capacity to enroll 15 000 students, would be incubated by the University of Zimbabwe.
Mugabe and his wife Grace are the founding trustees of the university that would be built outside the capital Harare, Moyo added.
Zimbabwe is facing a worsening cash crunch while its public service wage bill currently consumes 97 percent of Government expenditure at a time revenue inflows have remained subdued.
Recently, the International Monetary Fund warned Government to cut down on excessive spending saying that would fuel inflation.-The Source
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