The Italian daily Il Secolo XIX has ignited outrage in Zimbabwe after publishing a feature on the extravagant lifestyle of Pokello Nare daughter-in-law to President Emmerson Mnangagwa who celebrated her 40th birthday with eleven friends in the luxurious seaside town of Portofino.
According to the paper, Pokello wife to Emmerson Jr. spared no expense during her two-day “Dolce Vita” getaway, splurging on cocktails, designer boutiques, motorboat rides, and one of Italy’s most exclusive beach clubs, Carillon Beach in Paraggi.
While locals in Portofino welcomed the “glam squad” and happily pocketed their euros, the backlash at home in Zimbabwe has been severe.
The opposition blasted the Mnangagwa family for flaunting obscene wealth while millions of ordinary citizens live in crushing poverty.
“Golden excess while the nation starves is not leadership, it is looting dressed as power,” one South African business mogul was quoted as saying in response to the scandal.
Critics warning that the First Family’s “celebrity lifestyle” risks turning Zimbabwe’s leadership into an international spectacle of hypocrisy.
Despite the uproar, Pokello seemed unfazed. Between cocktails in the Piazzetta and luxury shopping sprees, she told the Italian press, “Portofino is truly beautiful, and the shops are very well stocked. That’s why we made this effort.”
Her words, however, are likely to deepen the anger of struggling Zimbabweans who see the Mnangagwa dynasty living the “Dolce Vita” abroad while they fight daily for bread at home.
