Bona Mugabe Mansion
Robert Mugabe’s daughter, Bona Chikore and her husband Simba Chikore are building a multi-million-dollar mansion in Harare's upmarket Umwinsidale suburb.
Location
Umwinsdale suburb.
Details
The mansion is being constructed by Chinese contractors. The top and side of the hill were blasted to create an access road and a huge flat space for foundations for Bona and Simba Chikore's mansion. Construction began in May 2017 but stopped after Robert Mugabe was forced to resign on November 21, 2017.[1]
The mansion sits on a 22-hectare tract of land that cascades down the mountain right to its foot in the Umwinsi River valley. The house is built on land that is bigger than the Harare Gardens which sit on 21 hectares.[2]
Rooms
The house’s plinth – a builtup area measured at the floor level of the storey or at the basement – is about 7 800 square metres.
The multi-storey house has a basement which is 1 200 square metres; ground floor (3 000 square metres); first floor (3 000 square metres); and a sundeck which is 600 square metres.
In the basement are nine rooms, including an apartment, while the ground floor has eight rooms and the first floor has another eight rooms.
The sundeck or upper terrace for sunning and relaxing offers a stunning view of the mountains and surrounding areas.[2]
Cost
Construction of the 25-room house is estimated to cost at least US$20 million. It was originally expected to cost US$39 million.[2]
Controversies
Bona and Simba's mansion was reportedly built on land originally set aside for a government school. In a 2017 news report, Harare City Council said it did not know construction had started but that rates on the property were overdue.[3]
Pictures
The drive way blasted out from the top of a hill in a Msasa tree woodland along the Umwinsidale Road. Picture: Tsvangirai Mukwazhi
Start of foundations for a mansion for Bona Mugabe and her family. Picture: Tsvangirai Mukwazhi
A shed constructed by “Chinese” builders
Bona Mugabe's Mansion Source: The News Hawks
References
- ↑ Multi-million-dollar mansion of Bona Mugabe, stalls in wake of dad's fall from power, News24, Published: December 6, 2017, Retrieved: March 23, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Mugabe’s son-in-law, daughter struggle to complete mansion, The News Hawks, Published: March 20, 2021, Retrieved: March 23, 2021
- ↑ Peta Thornycroft, LOOK: Mugabe's daughter building mansion on property set aside for school, IOL, Published: December 4, 2017, Retrieved: March 23, 2021
