Architects say the orphanage is as large as a medium-sized hotel, while surveyors in Harare have estimated the building's cost at about US$10 million – a staggering amount in a country where civil servants subsist on a US$200 allowance.
Final costs, including the ongoing landscaping, security and decoration are expected to push the bill close to US$12 million. Contractors are working on the fittings amid reports the orphanage will house rehabilitated street kids.
Mrs Mugabe snatched Iron Mask farm from an elderly white couple, John and Eva Matthews back in 2002. Seventy-eight-year-old John and his wife, 74, had 48 hours to pack and get out of the 2,500-acre farm they had built up over 25 years.
Grace began construction in 2005 and the orphanage is close to completion, but its size has raised questions about how the First Lady, who has no official income of her own, is funding such an imposing structure.
The First Family's spokesperson Lawrence Kamwi was not immediately available for comment.
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