Josephine Robassa

Dr. **Josephine Robassa** (née **Ogo** ;born 29 December, 1973) is a Zvakan politician, entrepreneur, former physician and endocrinologist who is the current Vice-President of Zvakana and First Lady of Zvakana, President of the Nativité Dawda Foundation, chairwoman of the Zvakan Sports & Athletics Federation, President of the Zvakan Red Cross, and former Minister of Health and Family Welfare.

## Personal life

Born in 1973 to Maurice Ogo, she married George Robassa in 1993. They have 8 children, including 3 from Robassa's previous marriage. Josephine's eldest child, Jean-Maria was appointed as the Speaker of the Zvakan parliament on her twenty-fifth birthday.

She is Zvakana's richest woman, and one of Africa's few female billionaires, with an estimated net worth of over $20 billion.

## Controversies

### Murder of Louis Toda

Louis Toda was a French-Zvakan journalist who uncovered Josephine's role in the illegal mining of diamonds in Zvakana (mining diamonds was banned by Dino Lossa in 1981) using Haruzu children and women, paying them upto $2 dollars per day. The diamonds were sold to her connections in Israel, Alconbria and Hong Kong, and she received hefty sums of money as payment to her secret Montbelliardian bank accounts. Toda also revealed that she used the money from her diamond sales to fund the Zvakan Youth Leage, a state-funded domestic terrorist group comprised of adolescents who were paid to attack the non-Dalo residents of Zvakana.

After the scandal was uncovered, Toda was arrested by the OSD under her orders. After he was tortured for a day for information, he was reportedly fed and sent to one of Josephine's mansions in Port Obi. She reportedly beat him with her fists, branded him with an iron ords, and forced him to kiss her shoes. Toda died in midst of the beating, and she ordered her guards to bury him in the mansion grounds.hea

### Assault charges

She reportedly strangled a nurse with her stethoscope while undergoing a medical check up in South Africa. She strangled the nurse till she lost consciousness. Assuming her to be dead, she immediately left the hospital and went back to her hotel suite. South African policemen were ordered to not prosecute her as she had diplomatic immunity, and instead escorted her to the airport, where she boarded a flight to London. The nurse said months later that she found an envelope containing $5000 at her doorstep, an a note from the Vice President's Office, telling her not to forget the incident.

### Josephine Robassa Advanced Hospital

In 2004, she allocated nearly $500 million to build a multi-speciality hospital in Grand Cape. Over 200,000 poor Zvakans were evicted from their shanty towns and were driven off into the country side, and were never provided compensation. In 2006, nearly $100 million was added to the budget. When the hospital was completed in 2007, people were shocked to find out that it wasn't a hospital, but a 200,000 square feet mansion for members of the elite circle, with a part of the mansion serving as a tiny 20 bed hospital with several advanced machines and equipment intended to treat the wealthy.

It is likely assumed that the mansion-hospital was built by Robassa as he feared of a coup in case he went abroad to seek medical treatment. Maurice Ogo died in that hospital while seeking medical treatment in 2008.

### Allegations of embezzlement

Several international aid agencies and activists, along with Zvakan politicians have accused the Robassa family of embezzlement of state funds for personal use. She, along with her husband, were described as the principal abusers. A report by Kindness International estimated that she pocketed upwards of 80% of the country's healthcare budget.

Zvakana has one of the least total health expenditure per capita, spending only $9 per person. The state of Zvakana's public health facilites drew widespread condemnation. In a 2015 interview, she said that she wouldn't even take her dogs to a government health facility.