THE dark blue tiles atop the pagoda-style roof were shipped in from Shanghai. The walls of the three-storey house with four acres of floorspace are lined with Italian marble. Arab craftsman decorated the ceilings of the 25-odd bedrooms.

Although photography of President Mugabe’s palatial new mansion is strictly prohibited, The Times has obtained a picture of the nearly completed property that shows just how far removed Zimbabwe’s leader has become from his people, who are sliding further into poverty each day.

“He is a liar and a thief,” said a domestic worker in a nearby house as he looked with disgust towards the blue mansion set among 44 acres of woodland.

Unfortunately, Mr Mugabe shows no sign of wanting to take up residence in his retirement home in the exclusive Harare suburb of Borrowdale.

He and his ruling Zanu (PF) party are vigorously contesting Zimbabwe’s parliamentary elections tomorrow, and most observers believe they will do whatever it takes to make sure they emerge trumphant.

Since 2000, during which time the Zimbabwean economy has shrunk by 40 per cent, Mr Mugabe is estimated to have spent £8 million pounds on the home, which was built by a construction company from the former Yugoslavia. Inside, there are reported to be double-storey receptions rooms, a ballroom, and hand-carved fittings.

Armed guards patrol the perimeter of the property, which also includes a lake, day and night.

President Mugabe, who has the use of two official residences in Harare and others in Bulawayo, Gweru and Mutare, already owns a number of lavish properties.

Media pressure forced his wife Grace to sell “Gracelands”, the mansion she allegedly built by using a state fund designed to help low-wage civil servants.

However, the President still owns a Chinese-built mansion in Zvimba, the area where he was brought up, and an expansive cottage in Nyanga highlands in the east of the country.

But if Mr Mugabe climbed into his custom-made armoured Mercedes and drove with his usual 30 vehicle motorcade just a few miles down the road from his new mansion, he would see the ruinous effect of his controversial political and economic policies.

On the edge of Harare stands an expanse of huts and shacks whose inhabitants were promised patches of land of their own as part of the Government’s land reform programme. They now have land, but no electricity and no running water.

“Nothing has improved for us,” said Christine Mahushani, sitting barefoot on the red earth as her two-year-old son Trilliant chewed on a piece of sugarcane. “Life has actually got worse.” With four in five adults in Zimbabwe jobless, the Mahushani family could be considered lucky. Mr Mahushani is employed as a security guard at Borrowdale Brook, the exclusive golfing estate that Mr Mugabe’s retirement home overlooks.

Yet the Z$1 million (£60) that Mr Mahushani brings home each month is not enough to pay for the basic food, shelter and education his family needs.

Although inflation in Zimbabwe has been reduced from more than 600 per cent to 130 per cent, it is still rampant. Household items are far more expensive than in neighbouring countries such as South Africa. There is also a chronic food shortage. Since the seizure of many of the country’s commercial farms, the agriculture sector has collapsed. Once a bread basket for the region, nearly half of the 11 million people in Zimbabwe were dependent on food aid last year.

The HIV/Aids infection rate, one of the few problems in the country for which the President’s critics cannot blame him, is one of the highest in the world. A quarter of the adult population have the disease. A child dies from Aids in Zimbabwe every 15 minutes.

Many families can no longer afford to educate their children. Neila, Mrs Mahusani’s 16-year-old daughter, had to drop out of school two years ago. “It’s painful because I need education to find a job,” Neila said.

The family’s hopes are now resting on Tafadzwa, 17, who sleeps in a shack covered with a plastic sheet, next to his mother’s hut. Resting against the wall of his room is a wheelbarrow. On the floor is a folded mattress, a candle and a plastic bag containing his tattered exercise books. “I want to be a pilot,” he said.

On the dirt road that leads to Mrs Mahushani’s hut, a group of women are wearing T-shirts of the ruling Zanu (PF) party. There is no open sign of support for the Opposition here; it is merely hidden.

“My vote is a secret,” said Mrs Mahushani, looking around at the small group of people that had gathered. “But everything will be fine if we have a new government.”

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