Grace Mugabe a laughing stock

Below is the Editorial Comment from today's Newsday.

THE storm around First Lady Grace Mugabe's debacle in South Africa is still far from calming, yet she has already gone a step further to demonstrate her disregard for the law and the welfare of other people by destroying makeshift homes of scores of villagers at Manzou's Arnold Farm to force them out to pave way for the expansion of her business empire in Mazowe.

There is no clearer demonstration than this to prove that what Grace did in South Africa was no fluke or accident, but it is just part of the cruel streak that defines her personality.

There is no greater revelation of her greed and avarice for wealth than how she had been treating the poor majority Zimbabweans, in particular Manzou villagers, since she first laid eyes on Arnold Farm.

Besides forcibly grabbing the farm to expand her family business, she has gone further to claim Manzou wildlife sanctuary and Mazowe Dam — both State properties - and turned them into her family chattels at the expense of the country.

Perhaps the greatest irony is that in the same area where she has built a children's home is where she is treating other citizens as dirt.

This leaves a lot of questions as to whether the children's home was established on the basis of genuine compassion for the underprivileged children or it's just a matter of public show?

But the manner in which she has conducted herself lately leaves one with no shred of doubt that it's all for show, because if it was a genuine concern from the heart, then, surely, it would have been extended to those poor villagers.

It is not surprising, therefore, that it is only in Zanu PF where she is considered "Amai", because her conduct doesn't befit that of a supposed mother of the nation.

A mother genuinely cares and has compassion for all.

In fact, Grace is a First Lady from Hell. What have Zimbabweans done to deserve this kind of treatment from one of their own — from deep in rural Chivhu, who now believes she is a demi-god?

Given her background, Zimbabweans thought that with her new status, Grace would strive to fit in the able shoes of her predecessor, the humble and affable late First Lady Sally Mugabe.

We were mistaken, and we have no doubt that her actions are responsible for the challenges facing the nation today.

We recall that the first evictions in the area were done at the height of the rainy season, leaving women and children in the open after their homes had been razed to the ground in the name of First Lady Grace.

The continued onslaught on the villagers, despite that there is a court order giving them reprieve to stay on the farm until government secures alternative land for them, demonstrates that lawlessness in Zimbabwe begins right at the very top.

When the First Family fails to uphold the law of the land, and uses the State security apparatuses to destroy, instead of protecting property, then who will?

The foot soldiers, who were sent to act on the orders, clearly know that their actions were inhuman and illegal, which is why they went to the extent of destroying a villager's mobile phone that had been used to film their actions.

It is our contention that Grace must be stopped forthwith, to save the country further embarrassment.