Robert Mugabe’s wife Grace sparks succession speculation with move into politics

Mrs Mugabe nominated as secretary of the ruling Zanu PF party's Women's League as her 90-year-old husband sees out twilight years of more than three decades in power

                                                            Zimbabwean President Robert Muagbe with his wife Grace

Grace Mugabe, the wife of Zimbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe, has made her first move into frontline politics by accepting the nomination for secretary of the Zanu PF Women’s League.
Her election to the post at the Zanu PF congress in December means she will take her place in the ruling party’s politburo and, some have speculated, could even propel her into the increasingly acrimonious race to be nominated as her 90-year-old husband’s successor ahead of the party’s congress in December.

Mrs Mugabe, 49, become the president’s second wife after serving as a secretary in his typing pool when she married him in 1996, a year after the death of his first wife, Sally, a Ghanaian. The couple have three children, two of whom were born while the first Mrs Mugabe was still alive.

Dubbed the First Shopper, Gucci Grace and Dis-Grace in private by locals and in the foreign media for her lavish excursions in Europe before becoming the subject of sanctions, she was also reported to have had an affair with Gideon Gono, the chair of Zimbabwe’s Reserve Bank, and has seized several previously white-owned farms.

She was unanimously picked as the sole candidate for Women's Secretary by a carefully-selected group of female Zanu PF members from the provinces at what was billed as her 49th birthday party but insiders said was a staged political meeting in the grounds of a children’s home she runs in Mazowe district about 20 miles west of Harare.

Zimbabwe’s Newsday newspaper reported that the women “fell over themselves” to endorse Mrs Mugabe. The pro Zanu PF state daily, the Herald, said Mrs Mugabe declared herself “shocked” when her name was put forward. The current women's leader, Oppah Muchinguri told the First Lady: “When you married the President you offered to make his troubles yours and you have been there with him ever since, even in the light of attacks by paparazzi and the West. You fought for us and the country and the only way we can repay you is to ask you to lead us.” “Newspapers have written bad things about you including that you had grabbed a farm but you have stayed strong.”

Zimbabwe’s Independent newspaper quoted women’s league insiders as saying the announcement would be a “major upset” for both the current frontrunners to succeed Mr Mugabe, Vice-President Joice Mujuru and Emmerson Mnangagwa, the justice minister.

The group credits itself with previously propelling Mrs Mujuru into the vice-presidency, but analysts told The Telegraph the entry of Mrs Mugabe into politics could be a blow to her ambitions.
Tendai Biti, the former finance minister and an MP for the Movement for Democratic Change and, said Grace Mugabe “will be the next president of Zanu PF when Mugabe goes”.

“This was always his card,” he told The Telegraph. “This is why we have seen him not choosing between Mnangagwa and Mujuru.
"It doesn't matter if she is not educated. This is Africa. Look at what happened with Odinga (the Kenyan president) and Equatorial Guinea."
But Piers Pigou, Zimbabwe expert with International Crisis Group, said Mrs Mugabe had neither the political nous nor popularity to go much further.

“It’s possible that this is part of the ongoing machinations around succession and an attempt to shore up support within the structures, but it may also be a diversionary tactic to distract from what’s really going on inside Zanu PF,” he said.

“Grace Mugabe is unpopular in the country and disliked by senior members of the party. She is tolerated but she has never demonstrated any political acumen or vision. She plays the role of a philanthropic first lady and praise singer for her husband and will continue to do the same inside the womens’ league.”