Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko who has been staying at the five-star Sheraton (Rainbow Towers Hotel) has defended his stay there saying it is just as good as staying in a government house.
“The day I was appointed VP of this country, I was staying at Meikles Hotel. According to government regulations, I had to move out of Meikles because it’s a private hotel. I moved to a government hotel which is Sheraton. The government has got shares there,” he told the Bulawayo daily, The Chronicle.
Mphoko said those who were against his stay at the hotel did not know what they were talking about.
“People don’t know what they are talking about. The house that the government has bought me is not even worth $3 million. It’s $1 million and something. I live in a government hotel. It’s as good as staying in a government house.
“It’s as good as Tsvangirai who is staying in a government house. Tsvangirai is staying in a government house which is as good as staying at Sheraton.
“The presidency is an institution governed by strict security, strict protocol not anything outside that. Long back I used to drive from South Africa, park my car along the road and sleep but I can’t do that now. The men I travel with can’t allow me to do that.
“People talk about things they don’t know. My house even here in Bulawayo has been turned into a government house in the sense that protocol and security are dominating. Those who are talking have failed. They know it because they want me to be like them. I will never be because my life is governed by prayers and God. All their efforts will not work.”
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