Grace Mugabe sucked into varsity student politics

The Zimbabwe National Students' Union (Zinasu) has accused allies of First Lady Grace Mugabe of meddling in student politics ahead of Student Representative Council (SRC) elections tomorrow.

Zinasu Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) leader Joana Mamombe said Grace's allies had sponsored their rival Zimbabwe Congress of Students' Union (Zicosu) and provided T-shirts emblazoned with the First Lady's face in order to intimidate students ahead of the elections.

Mamombe, who is vying for the SRC presidency, said they had since petitioned the institution's "partisan security" and the administration, demanding that Zicosu members should stop wearing Grace's T-shirts.

But Zicosu's "sponsored" presidential candidate Watson Mabasa defended the wearing of Grace's T-shirts, saying the students' body had the same ideology with her.

The T-shirts have the message: "Gore rino tichadzidza zvakawanda", accompanied by Grace Mugabe's portrait, while at the back, the message reads "Gore rezvidzidzo-Unconquerable-Munhu wese kuna amai".