President Robert Mugabe’s wife, Grace Mugabe has begun swiftly and in earnest to succeed her husband as leader of Zimbabwe, and in the past two months she has been using the budget and the jets and helicopters of her husband to travel up and down the country in a “charm offensive” to rally support.
The Christian Science Monitor reported that Ms. Mugabe, 40 years junior to her husband, is seeking to position herself as a second vice-president of Zimbabwe and ready to take control should President Mugabe, who turns 91 this year, step down or pass away.
Mr Mugabe has been in office for nearly three decades. But the first lady faces stiff resistance from the president’s fellow liberation-struggle cadres, who have elbowed each other for power for years, especially current first Vice President, Joice Mujuru, considered a prime successor.
Two months ago Ms. Mugabe was nominated as head of the women’s wing of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) Patriotic Front (PF).
She has since used the spot to court church leaders, traditional chiefs, and youth – often hosting them in lavish parties at the plush family estate in Mazowe, a small town just north of the capital, Harare.
Mr. Mugabe has been ailing and has traveled to a number of overseas medical facilities. He’s rumored to possibly step down prior to 2018 when his term ends. He has hinted he may retire from the ZANU PF party leadership, though he’s accepted the nomination to lead the party congress in December.
Under Zimbabwe’s new constitution, that congress is where Grace Mugabe would need to become second in command to her husband in order to then snatch the top job.
Ms. Mugabe has shown herself willing to take on the same kind of tough approach to politics that her husband is known for. She recently told a gathering that she was ready to “spill blood” in defense of the vast empire grabbed from white farmers during the chaotic land reform that started in 2000.
