Mugabe and Grace's secrets 'wreck' Bona's marriage

HARARE - President Robert Mugabe's number one child, Bona Nyepudzai's tricky marriage to Simba Chikore, is allegedly on the brink of damage and possible collapse owing to secret plans by Mugabe and the First Lady Grace, to nudge their daughter into an influential political role in Zanu PF and government, The Telescope News reported.

Speculation is now rife that Mugabe and his wife, are working to position Bona into earning a powerful political post, either as a cabinet minister or top diplomat in preparation for possible higher office, in case Grace fails to make it into a post-Mugabe presidium it is emerging.

Mugabe believes Bona is disciplined and has what it takes to master statecraft.

The dire situation of the young couple has been compounded by Bona's failure to conceive a baby more than a year after getting married as a pure virgin, raising alarm, despondency and frustration with her in-laws, including the first family itself, which is said to be itching for a grandchild while they are still in power, insiders close to the couple said this week.

According to local traditional beliefs, it is largely expected for a bride to fall pregnant immediately after the marriage festivity, especially if she was not deflowered before, after a few attempts during honeymoon, an Elder in the Zimbabwe Assemblies of God Africa (Zaoga), who opened up on the issue when we first broke this story on 29 August 2014 said.

This conflict of interest and lack of synchronisation in priorities between the pair, has resulted in communication break-down at times, as Chikore is zeroing in on attempts at fatherhood, while Bona seems bent on giving in to the first family's scheme of building a political power base for her, to complement her mother's bid to become vice president or head of state should the political pendulum swing to her favour in 2018, the insiders revealed.

Only last month both Bona and Simba made a tacit admission that all was not "rosy" in their marriage as sometimes they could spend half a day without talking to each other, due to being fed up with one another.

Bona was reported to have been rounded-up and press ganged into marriage by Grace in 2014, against her will to first concentrate on her career as a finance expert or banker. Grace wanted her to settle down first, plan a family and then look into career matters after becoming a mother, a move which Mugabe had initially opposed, but is believed to have bowed down to pressure from the first lady.

Mugabe is said to have wanted Bona to make her own decision about whom to get married to, as the Zanu PF strongman was convinced there was no befitting Son in law, to ask Bona's hand in marriage at the time, including Chikore who had been vetted to be not suitable by special agents assigned to the task.

Chikore, a former head-boy at St Johns High in the capital, stood accused of having Casanova tendencies at the time, on top of unclear aviation qualifications as a pilot with an Asian airline, which dismissed that it was his employer recently.

"Four months ago Bona accompanied the President to Japan on official visit," said one of the insiders in government, who also happens to be related to the Mugabes. "Many people thought she was standing in for Amai (Grace Mugabe) who was not feeling well and had gone abroad for her regular health treatments. It turned out Bona was being conditioned and groomed for political responsibility at foreign affairs level. There is no doubt that she is soon going to become a player at some point in Mugabe's final succession race, and all this has been costing her marriage."

In March this year Mugabe, began taking Nyepudzai on several official visits overseas, leading credence to speculation that she was being prepared for future power seizure.

When photographs and television clips of Bona surfaced as part of Mugabe's state delegation to Japan, and the decision to allow her to sit by Mugabe's side during one of the official meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, claims intensified that she might actually become a potential successor to her father.

The information ministry refused to entertain questions about this report yesterday, with a senior officer at the department arguing that the matter is a private family affair.

"The Telescope News is always provoking controversy. The matter you are calling to get a response from us is a private affair of the first family. Please respect that. Let us focus on more constructive reporting, like government efforts to revive the economy instead."