Bad influence on Mugabe

Ronald Reagan once said of his wife Nancy that she came along and saved his soul. For Robert Mugabe, the opposite is often said. Many believed his second wife Grace came along and sold his soul.

Mugabe’s early years in public life evoked admiration. A television panel discussant came to tears the other day just recalling it. Many have claimed that while Mugabe’s first wife, Sally, lay dying, Grace, the much younger feisty typist-turned-secretary, began an affair with Mugabe. Many have since argued that he turned irredeemably rogue after he married her in 1996.

Lord Carrington, one of the architects of the Lancaster House agreement, said of her that she was a thoroughly bad influence on Mugabe.

Increasingly feeble as he neared his 90s, she expected him to pass on soon so she could claim the ultimate prize all for herself — the presidency of Zimbabwe. Or so it is alleged. I know a coup when I see one. I lived decades of my life through them in West Africa. What we were watching unfolding in Zimbabwe was a coup mid-wifed by the first lady.

Incidentally, the situation and psychography on both sides of Beitbridge bear ominous similarities. On both the applecart has been upset by a wife (or former wife). On one, the tried and tested decades-old tradition of a deputy taking over from an incumbent is being turned on its head. On the other, the obdurate ambition of an upstart wife has upset a whole nation.

In both instances stability and certainty are placed on hold and the freedom of citizens to live their lives unencumbered by the lack thereof is delayed. The world watches with bated breath.

Kola Jolaolu Cape Town