Grace Mugabe positions herself to succeed her frail, despotic husband
ROBERT MUGABE’S wife has “staked her claim” to power by presenting herself as a wise adviser to Zimbabwe’s vice-presidents while the faculties of her 91-year-old husband decline.
Grace Mugabe, 49, said she was working closely with the president’s two deputies, adding that both “take notes” while listening to her views on “developmental issues”.
Her words were interpreted as a bid for power after the death or retirement of her husband.
Opening a housing scheme, Mrs Mugabe told thousands of people that she was holding regular meetings with the two vice-presidents, Phelekezela Mphoko and Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Both men are at least 20 years her senior and Mr Mnangagwa has served in the cabinet since independence from Britain in 1980.
Mrs Mugabe still said that both regularly benefited from her wisdom.
“In the few months they have been in power, I have lost count of the times that I have sat down with them one-onone to talk about the development of Zimbabwe,” she said. “This is the leadership that we want – servant leaders who know that they are there to work for the people and that they should sit down with the mother to discuss issues.”
Referring to herself as “Amai” or “Mother”, Mrs Mugabe added that the vice-presidents “know that they must sit down with Amai to discuss about developmental issues.
“Mnangagwa comes with a notebook, Mphoko comes with a notebook to listen to me. They know I am younger than them, but they appreciate that I am Amai – and I have something to tell them about developing the nation.”
Mrs Mugabe presented herself as a schoolteacher instructing the two vicepresidents. “They will be jotting down notes as I speak so that the nation moves forward,” she said.
Observers said that Mrs Mugabe appears to be positioning herself for the moment when her husband leaves politics. Ibbo Mandaza, formerly a senior official in the ruling Zanu-PF party and now a political commentator, said: “She has staked her claim.”
Mrs Mugabe, a deeply unpopular figure with a reputation for enjoying a luxury lifestyle, began an affair with the president while working as a typist at State House in the 1990s. She delivered their first child – a daughter, Bona – when Mr Mugabe’s first wife, Sally, was still alive. She married Mr Mugabe in 1996 and became a member of the Zanu-PF Politburo last year.
Mr Mugabe’s mental decay is increasingly obvious, making the question of his succession more urgent.
A Western diplomat in Harare said: “I have watched this closely and he is deteriorating mentally. No question about that. It was quite sudden from when I saw him a few months ago.”
Another said: “He can’t stay awake these days. He often nodded off in cabinet in the last few years, but now it is very difficult for him to stay awake for long.”
Brian Raftopoulos, a political commentator, said that Mrs Mugabe was “certainly more influential”, adding: “She is now very important and state power is also about jobs, as the private sector means very little. So people will cling to government jobs as it is the only means of accumulation.”
‘He often nodded off in cabinet but now it is very difficult for him to stay awake for long’