/ 1 January 2002

Mugabe gets 20% salary increase

President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has been given a 20% salary increase, his second pay rise this year, a newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Government ministers and lawmakers from Mugabe’s ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF), as well as parliamentarians from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) will also receive pay increases, the paper said.

The paper quoted a government notice published last week announcing that Mugabe’s annual salary would be increased to 1,6-million Zimbabwe dollars ($29 000) from 1,3-million dollars ($23 000).

Mugabe, who received a pay increase in February, will have the latest salary increment backdated to July, the paper added. Zimbabwe is in the middle of its worst economic crisis with inflation close to 140%. Around 80% of Zimbabweans live in poverty. – Sapa-AFP