The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Grace Mugabe

  • Zimbabwe arrests university chief over Grace Mugabe’s degree

    Zimbabwe arrests university chief over Grace Mugabe’s degree

    The Vice Chancellor of Zimbabwe’s oldest university has been arrested over the controversial award of a doctorate to former First Lady Grace Mugabe.

    Anti-Corruption Commission spokeswoman, Phyllis Chikundura, said Levi Nyagura of the University of Zimbabwe was arrested Friday.

    Mugabe, whose husband resigned in November under pressure from the military, received a doctorate in 2014 amid allegations she did not study for it. Former President Robert Mugabe was University Chancellor.

    Chikundura says the university should provide the “paper trail” showing Grace Mugabe’s registration and academic progression.

    Sociology department lecturers said they have no records of Mugabe’s work.

    Fears that the unpopular Mugabe was positioning herself to succeed her 93-year-old husband as president led the military to step in last year.

     

  • Zimbabwe ’s anti-graft agency investigates Grace Mugabe’s PhD

    Zimbabwe ’s anti-graft agency investigates Grace Mugabe’s PhD

    Zimbabwe’s anti-corruption agency is investigating whether former first lady Grace Mugabe was wrongly awarded a university doctorate more than three years ago, an official said on Tuesday.

    Grace, whose efforts to take over the leadership of the ruling ZANU-PF party prompted a de facto military coup against her husband, then-president Robert Mugabe, in November, graduated in 2014, just months after she had registered to study at the University of Zimbabwe.

    Up to now, her dissertation for the doctorate has not been published and is not available in the university library, as such academic qualifications usually are.

    Read also: New Zimbabwean Govt. declares Mugabe ’s birthday as public holiday

    “We indeed received a report from the sociology department at the university on how Grace Mugabe received her doctorate and that is what we are investigating,” said Goodson Nguni, the head of investigations at the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission.

    Local media reports say the sociology department told the commission that Grace’s doctorate was “suspicious” and needed to be investigated.

    Grace, who was called “Dr Amai” – or “learned mother of the nation” – by adulating followers, has previously defended her academic record and last September told a ZANU-PF rally that she had earned her doctorate even though her detractors thought otherwise.

    Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was on the receiving end of vicious attacks by Grace last year, succeeded 93-year-old Mugabe as president in November.

    Grace has not appeared in public since November 15, when army tanks rolled into the capital and confined Mugabe and his family at his luxurious mansion in Harare.

    NAN

  • How Prophet Iginla predicted Zimbabwe leadership crisis

    How Prophet Iginla predicted Zimbabwe leadership crisis

    Respected preacher and Senior Pastor of Champions Royal Assembly, Kubwa, Abuja, Prophet Joshua Iginla, known for his accurate predictions about national and global events without fear, has continued to score higher.

    The televangelist and had predicted the crisis first during the church cross over service this year, again on the 14th of May and 2nd of July, 2017 during his church services.

    In his words, “One of the African country needs to pray against military intervention, I don’t want to say South, North, East or West Africa but one of the African countries should pray against military intervention so that their democracy will not be truncated’.

    “I see military intervention. I don’t know why they are intervening but what they are intervening for is between God and the future.

    “This country has to pray so they don’t go back to where they are coming from”.

    Recall, on 14th November, 2017, Zimbabwe’s military leaders seized control of the impoverished Southern African nation, placing longtime leader, Robert Mugabe under house arrest and deploying armored vehicles to the streets of the capital, Harare.

    Analysts say it appears to be the climax of a power struggle between liberation-era figures loyal to the country’s ousted vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa and forces faithful to First Lady, Grace Mugabe, wife of Robert Mugabe who is seen as vying to succeed her 93-year-old husband.

    The events on Tuesday 21st November, 2017 led to Robert Mugabe’s resignation as the president of Zimbabwe, ending his 37-year reign.

    Bro. Iginla however, noted that he is not particular about the removal of Mugabe but that the right person should take charge.

    He further commended the military for not staging a coup but simply intervening according to the message God gave to him concerning the crisis.

  • Zimbabwe’s first lady sues in dispute over $1.35m ring

    Zimbabwe’s first lady sues in dispute over $1.35m ring

    Zimbabwe’s first lady Grace Mugabe, has sued a Belgium-based businessman for failing to deliver a 1.35 million-dollar-ring she ordered for a wedding anniversary.

    Grace, 52, an influential figure in Mugabe’s ruling ZANU-PF party and seen as a potential successor to her husband, is nicknamed “Gucci Grace” for her reputed dedication to shopping.

    She and her 93-year-old husband have kept their assets under wraps inspite of frequent local private media reports on Grace buying properties in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

    The Herald, a government-controlled newspaper, reported that Grace was suing businessman Jamal Hamed after a deal to have Hamed supply the First Lady with a diamond ring turned sour.

    Grace’s spokeswoman Olga Bungu could not be reached for comment on Wednesday while her lawyer Wilson Manase, who filed the papers at the High Court, was said to be attending court.

    In court papers seen by the Herald, Grace said she had in 2015 ordered the ring for her 20-year wedding anniversary last year but Hamed failed to deliver and refunded her only 120,000 dollars.

    The First Lady asked the High Court to attach properties and three companies owned by Hamed in Harare, the Herald said.

    Hamed told Reuters from Belgium that he had not been served with the court papers. His Harare-based lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, said she had not seen the papers.

    “We have not received anything at all and I am not in Harare to be served any claim or false allegations,” Hamed said.

    In Zimbabwe, at least eight out of 10 potential workers are unemployed.

    The average national monthly income is 200 dollars and news of the million-dollar ring was immediately greeted with scorn on social media.

    Mugabe, who says he leads a frugal life, and Grace own a dairy company and several farms near Harare.

    The two have never responded to media reports that they own several properties.

    In 2016, Hamed accused Grace of seizing his Harare properties following the dispute and asked the High Court to intervene.

    He then said Grace had threatened her if he ever returned to Zimbabwe.

    Grace, through her lawyer Manase, denied all the accusations.

    NAN

  • Zimbabwean journalist held for defaming Mugabe’s wife

    Zimbabwean journalist held for defaming Mugabe’s wife

    A Zimbabwean journalist has been detained for writing a news story deemed insulting to the country’s first lady, Grace Mugabe, a legal aid group said on Tuesday.

    Kenneth Nyangani of the privately-owned Newsday newspaper was detained late Monday, police spokeswoman, Charity Charamba, confirmed, adding that a full statement would later be issued on the case.

    Nyangani had written an article alleging that the first lady — a notorious shopper with a penchant for designer goods — had made a charitable donation of clothes, including used undergarments, to supporters of her husband’s Zanu-PF party.

    “We understand police officers are planning on charging him with criminal defamation,” said Kumbirai Mafunda, spokesman for Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, the group representing the journalist.

    Zimbabwe ranked 128 out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders 2017 World Press Freedom Index.

    The group called the media situation in the southern African country “oppressive” and noted that both local and foreign journalists regularly face arrest.

    Nonagenarian President Robert Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe for three decades and intends to contest elections again next year.

    Grace has been widely tipped as a possible successor to her 93-year-old husband.

    Mugabe has been accused of vote rigging, multiple human rights violations, and self-enrichment in a country where 63 per cent of the population lives below the poverty line, according to the UN’s World Food Programme.

  • Assault allegation: Demands mount for prosecution of Mugabe’s wife

    Assault allegation: Demands mount for prosecution of Mugabe’s wife

    Wife of Zimbabwean President Grace Mugabe returned home from South Africa on Sunday, state media reported, pursued by demands she face prosecution over an alleged assault of a 20-year-old model in an upmarket Johannesburg hotel room.

    Police had placed border posts on “red alert” to prevent her from leaving.

    However, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, South Africa’s International Relations Minister, said she had granted diplomatic immunity to the wife of Zimbabwe’s 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe.

    “I hereby recognise the immunities and privileges of the First Lady of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Dr Grace Mugabe,” the minister said in a notice published in South Africa’s Government Gazette on Sunday.

    A Reuters source confirmed a Zimbabwean state media report that the president and first lady arrived in Harare aboard an Air Zimbabwe plane in the early hours of Sunday.

    Nkoana-Mashabane’s order, signed on Saturday, has gone down badly in online forums in South Africa, where August has been designated Women’s Month to highlight concerns around gender violence and abuse.

    The opposition Democratic Alliance said it would call for a parliamentary inquiry into the affair, while advocacy group, Afriforum, said it would challenge the government’s decision.

    “We will now take the decision on review and to see if we can have the immunity revoked,” its legal affairs spokesman, Willie Spies, said.

    The group has given legal backing to Gabriella Engels, the woman behind the assault allegation, and is working on the case with Gerrie Nel.

    He was the prosecutor who secured a murder conviction against Olympic and Paralympic star, Oscar Pistorius.

    Engels has accused Grace Mugabe of whipping her with an electric extension cable a week ago as she waited with two friends in a luxury hotel suite to meet one of Mugabe’s adult sons.

    The model’s mother, Debbie Engels, told Reuters her daughter suffered a gash on her forehead that required eight stitches and another on the back of her head that needed six.

    Harare has made no official comment on the issue and requests for comment from Zimbabwean government officials have gone unanswered. (Reuters/NAN)

  • Mugabe’s wife to appear in court over assault

    Mugabe’s wife to appear in court over assault

    Zimbabwe’s first lady, Grace Mugabe, is to appear in court in South Africa following allegations of an assault.

    She has “handed herself over to the police” but is not under arrest, South African Police Minister, Fikile Mbalula, said.

    South African model, Gabriella Engels, 20, has accused Mrs. Mugabe of hitting her on the head with an extension cord during a confrontation at a hotel, the BBC reports.

    She released an image of a face injury online.

    However, Mrs. Mugabe has not commented on the matter.

    Ms Engels accused Mrs. Mugabe, 52, of hitting her when she was with the first lady’s two sons in a hotel room in Sandton, a plush suburb north of Johannesburg.

    The attack reportedly happened on Sunday evening.

    In a statement, police confirmed that an unnamed 20-year-old South African woman had on Monday registered a “case of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.”

    She was “allegedly assaulted by a prominent woman at a hotel in Sandton,” police said, without naming Mrs. Mugabe.

  • Mugabe’s wife asks him to name successor

    Mugabe’s wife asks him to name successor

    The Zimbabwean First Lady, Grace Mugabe, on Thursday challenged her husband, Robert to name his preferred successor to end deepening divisions over the future leadership of the ruling ZANU-PF party.

    Africa’s oldest leader, Mugabe, 93, has ruled the former British colony since independence in 1980 but has insisted that ZANU-PF, and not him, would choose his eventual successor when the time comes, Reuters reported.

    However, at a meeting of ZANU-PF’s women’s wing in Harare, The first lady contradicted the veteran leader, who also attended the meeting, saying he should name a successor.

    “The First Lady and Zanu-PF Secretary for Women’s Affairs have challenged the President to name his successor, saying this has been the trend in other countries.

    “The First Lady said there is nothing wrong with Mugabe naming his successor, saying the move will enable all members to rally behind one candidate,’’ ZBC said.

    However, Mugabe did not speak at the meeting.

    Fighting over leadership of a post-Mugabe ZANU-PF has intensified in the last three years, with two distinct camps emerging, one supporting Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the other rooting for Grace Mugabe.

    Mugabe is ZANU-PF’s presidential candidate for the 2018 election, his last under the constitution.

    He will be 99 years if he wins and completes the five-year term.

    According to the constitution, elections are due after July 21, 2018.

     

  • Grace Mugabe wrong on mini-skirts

    SIR: The statement credited to the First lady of Zimbabwe Grace Mugabe that “If you walk around wearing miniskirts displaying your thighs and inviting men to drool over you, then you want to complain when you have been raped?” is off key.

    Whilst she is within her right to frown upon and against loose dress especially by Africans who aren’t used to such, it would appear that she gave vent to the behaviour of perverts who go on a maddening spree raping women, while offering no condemnation for the demented perverts.

    Both women and men should have been blamed as dress alone does not account for rape. For instance, insurgents, kidnappers are reported to routinely rape women in their custody. Some fathers even rape their daughters. How then is dress responsible for that?

    In Nigeria, cases abound of women in their advanced years being raped as well as many toddlers who are yet to be in the women’s estate.

    Many others get in harm’s way by being seized and assaulted on dark alleys by demented perverts who have the proclivity to sexually molest people. Is loose dress responsible for all of these?

    This is not to suggest that only men should be blamed for taking advantage of women. Far from it. After all our women nowadays suffer from cultural cringes; those who wear clothes that are totally alien to our clime, clothes they see in western movies, worn only to shoot videos and not worn by responsible females on the streets of Europe and America.

    Dress matter. I know that the way you dress is the way you will be addressed? But dress is not the end-all to rape.

    Grace Mugabe should have touched the right chord as a stateswoman by asking society to be reasonable enough to appreciate the African behavioural code: For young ladies not to “visit men in their rooms, if they must, to never go alone, but in company of friends, and never allow the males to shut the door and never visit males at night. To raise alarm quickly when they get a whiff suggesting sexual assault and for schools to organize orientation programmes, principally on how women can manage time and engage in decent behavioural habits.

    And finally for the police to investigate matters of rape and prosecute offenders in court and treat same as a national emergency. Isn’t it time we restored order in Africa, in the real sense before rape in our environments become a culture?

     

    Simon Abah,

    Port Harcourt.