Shona Adage: Children of a king can overnight be slaves in a foreign country

Mwana waShe muranda kumwe. This proverb is very befitting in the case of Chatunga Mugabe. Looking at him at the dock, you cannot help but sympathize deeply with his predicament. Mugabe's boy children were badly brought up. (Grace's upbringing was abusive to children.) The argument is: if you spoil your children, you are abusing them.

This excludes Bona Mugabe, their sister. Apart from her divorce from Chikowore, which was widely publicized on social media, Bona has never arrogantly displayed excess publicly. Knowing our culture so well, Bona was brought up differently from the boys; also fulfilling cultural expectations, she got married. What else do you expect from an African girl‑child?

On the other hand, her brothers have been police cases ever since their father died. I should be excused if I said the home upbringing was part of the problem. Blame must go to their mother because it is Grace who had serious problems with excess wealth.

Known for her shopping sprees in global capital cities, her nickname "Gucci Grace" came from her unfettered indulgence, openly showing off dresses, jewels, shoes, perfume, numerous homes, power, and many farms. African understanding of wealth is that everything must be very plentiful and better than all other people.

It is such a messy situation, really, because the mother cannot travel to South Africa to be by her son at this time of absolute distress: she could be arrested for criminal charges again because of her unruly boys. Her son is accused of attempted murder; this is a very serious criminal case. Not long ago, the Mugabe family was above the law.

Today, the three boys, including Gorerenje's son, are worse than slaves in foreign countries: *varanda kumwe.* At least slaves have wider boundaries that give them space to move around; a remand prison is another territory altogether. He fainted twice because he could not take it. Such hardships are not for the elite children of a former head of state but for lesser mortals.

Chatunga does not understand the world anymore or how his life situations could change so harshly. Mugabe's children were raised lifting silver spoons. Suddenly, Chatunga is sharing a cell with hardcore criminals and murderers. My sympathy will still go to Chatunga: it is wholly not his fault that he behaves the way he does. He is in a predicament because the socialization failed him dismally.

This kind of behaviour is not exclusively displayed by Mugabe's children. African children who dwell in excess wealth display this kind of behaviour. Rich African children are brought up to be better than the other; the parents emphasize this when they grow up. The servants of such homes bear the brunt of the worst treatment you can think of. They are not seen as people but second‑class citizens. Zimbabwe, with a history of struggle for independence - how did irony escape us that Black elites are wearing the shoes of the colonizers? This young man is accused of murder because, according to him, his garden boy is disposable.

Chatunga is surprised that the law has caught up with him. Did his father, Robert Gabriel Mugabe, give orders as commander‑in‑chief to murder about 20,000 Gukurahundi victims between 1983 and 1987? He was not born then, but it is all in history books: Chatunga can read and write. The genocide his father committed was not made accountable in international courts. This could have set a precedent that he could take a gun and shoot at his garden boy, thinking he could go scot‑free.

Chatunga is surprised that he is denied bail in Alexandra Magistrates' Court in South Africa. His experience in Zimbabwe: if he committed such a crime, he would be sent to a remand prison only as a performance and would be slapped with a paltry US$300 - end of story.

It could be that the criminal behaviour of rich children is not only in rich African children but also in the British monarchy. We now know how former Prince Andrew Mountbatten‑Windsor abused his birthright position to sexually assault minors. If his mother were alive, he would be protected. The Epstein files opened Pandora's box; the world knows the length and breadth of abuse of minors for decades.

He abused his household staff and insulted them. He had 27 teddy bears that were supposed to be put in the way he wanted in his bed every day. Andrew was the favourite son of the queen. He had a spoiled upbringing just like Chatunga. When the queen died, when Mugabe died, things fell apart. Both could face jail sentences if found guilty.

In as much as Andrew Mountbatten‑Windsor is addicted to sex, Chatunga Mugabe is addicted to drug abuse, alcohol, and even sex in abundance. He does not comprehend the gravity of his criminal gun discharge to dismember his garden boy.

Indeed, nobody is above the law. When Andrew Mountbatten‑Windsor was arrested, he cried loudly that he was the son of the queen of England. It is not said if Chatunga cried that he was the son of President Robert Gabriel Mugabe. The law applied to both because we are all equal under the law.