Why Grace Mugabe entered Zimbabwe's mainstream politics?

President Robert Gabriel Mugabe's second wife, Grace, who is loathed by the economically depressed Southern African nation, for her expensive shopping sprees, of luxury European goods and brands, at the expense of downtrodden taxpayers, such as 'Gucci' fashion lines and leather works, alongside her favourite Italian women's shoes from the Salvatore Ferragamo range, has made a shock entry into the country's volatile politics, for three possible strong reasons, which are business, political and personal.

The first lady, now a doctor, after being awarded a controversial Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in the Faculty of Social Studies, after only two months of enrollment, by the University of Zimbabwe, where her husband ironically happens to be the Chancellor, has risen from ashes to classes, from being Mugabe's private typist and secretary, to becoming his second wife, and having an affair with the nonagenarian while Mugabe's first and late wife, Sally Mugabe, reportedly lay on her deathbed suffering from kidney failure, appears to have the final mission of securing the Mugabe family's longevity and legacy, by bidding for a possible political crown, as Mugabe's successor.

According to the Telescope News Grace's first worry is the family's vast business empire in Zimbabwe, which covers many economic sectors from mining, agriculture, to real estate and exports, which can easily come under threat and risk if her new political foe, Vice President, Joice Mujuru, comes to power by succeeding Mugabe.

In August this year, Grace went on a war path indirectly attacking Mujuru and her allies, while aggressively announcing her readiness to enter mainstream politics as leader of the Zanu PF Women's League ahead of the party congress in December, accusing Mujuru of attempting to topple Mugabe from office prematurely using money, and help from Washington and London, an allegation Mujuru has vehemently refuted.

"My time has come to show people what I am made of," Grace warned at a rally, while launching her political career, insinuating her life and interests were under threat after Mugabe's time in power. "There are people who want to drag me against a tarred road, when the President goes," she said in an apparent salvo to Mujuru.
Mugabe's wife entry into politics, although being suspected used by a faction against Mujuru's ascendancy to replace Mugabe, thought to be speared-headed by justice minister, Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, can thus be interpreted as motivated by her zeal to secure the future of the Mugabe family.

The Mugabes are easily one of the richest political families in Zimbabwe, with a massive fortune earned from the controversial Marange diamonds, in Manicaland, first discovered in 2008 and believed to be the world's biggest find, with an estimated value of US$800 billion. The lucrative diamond fields, are almost the size of Swaziland, and Mugabe has over the years entered into partnership with Chinese mining firms, to mine the precious mineral for himself and inner circle military chefs, at the expense of treasury, as the national coffers remain dried up without a penny from the revenue proceeds finding it's way into the economy, to uplift the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans. Through a mining company called Mbanda Diamonds, which has a complex ownership structure with parent companies in the British Virgin Islands and Mauritius, a close confidante of the Mugabes called Air Vice-Marshall Robert Mhlanga, reportedly manages the firm on their behalf and the top brass of the country's military.

Another blue-chip business venture exclusively owned by Grace, which she would want to protect is a thriving diary farm, called Gushungo Dairies, which is currently supplying a cross-section of diary products, such as milk, yogurts, fresh cream and ice- cream throughout Zimbabwe's supermarkets. Until recently, the dairy farm was supplying up to a million litres of milk a year to Switzerland's multinational food and beverage giant Nestlé. The Vevey headquartered company, became is the biggest customer of Grace Mugabe's dairy farm, until it came under pressure from the International community, to stop doing business with the first lady, over human rights abuses by Mugabe's government. Mugabe's supporters threatened to take over the company, accusing it of trying to derail Zimbabwe's controversial land reforms under which his administration seized thousands of white-owned farms to resettle landless blacks.

Mugabe and his wife, according to press reports also own, a personal farming empire comprising of about five formerly white-owned farms, which they grabbed during a blitz on almost 4,000 white commercial farmers, evicted from their land and property during a contentious, fast-track land reform exercise, which has been blamed for decimating Zimbabwe's food security. Prior to the largely botched land reform exercise, the country was considered to be Africa's little Switzerland, and breadbasket of Southern Africa due to massive food surplus. Naturally, only a reasonable political clout can allow them to continue holding onto these farms, which are said to total about 12,000 acres. The Gushungo Dairy Estate farm alone, formerly known as Foyle Farm in Mazowe, is 2,400-acres big and is being managed by Russell Goreraza, Grace Mugabe's son from her first marriage, to Stanley Goreraza, an officer in the Air Force of Zimbabwe and the current defence attaché at the Zimbabwean embassy in China.

Power brokers

There are a number of power schemers and brokers behind, Grace's sudden political stardom, and chief among them is Mnangagwa. The justice minister, has been involved in protracted battles to replace Mugabe with current vice president, Mujuru. As a former spy chief at Zimbabwe's Independence from Britain in 1980, running the State security ministry, which controls the country's dreaded Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), Mnangagwa could have seen a gender weapon in Grace to fight Mujuru.

Ironically, it was Mugabe's wife who fiercely campaigned for Joice Mujuru, together with Zanu PF Women's league leaders in 2004, to be elevated to the powerful position, ahead of Mnangagwa, who had clearly won the race after securing the vote of eight of the country's ten provinces. Mujuru was just a water resources minister, but Grace and Mujuru's late husband, General Solomon Mujuru, who died in a mysterious fire accident in 2011, where instrumental in her promotion after calling for a quota allowing for women representation in the country's presidium.

Grace is seeking to insulate herself from a possible Mujuru presidency, which she has been cast into the forefront to block by Mnangagwa, through her recent nation-wide rallies dubbed "Meet the People", which she rolled out in August, going across the provinces denouncing Mujuru as a corrupt western puppet, who will reverse Zimbabwe's Independence and land reform, if she came into power, by siding with European Union (EU) and American interests, therefore she is not fit to rule.

Other players behind Grace, are outgoing Women's league boss, Oppah Muchinguri; Senate of Zimbabwe President, Edna Madzongwe; and higher education minister, Dr Olivia Muchena. The trio are very influential senior Zanu PF politicians, who also felt threatened by Mujuru's ascendancy. Mujuru it is argued, became pre-occupied with mapping her way and strategy to succeed Mugabe, with the help of her late husband and her faction backers who include: Presidential affairs minister, Didymus Mutasa; ousted former Zanu PF spokesman, Rugare Gumbo; Zanu PF chairman, Ambassador Simon Khaya-Moyo and Zanu PF Commissar, Webster Shamu, all who have key positions that could easily make Mujuru's rise to the top less complicated. Mujuru, might have offended the Women's league heavyweight trio, by sidelining them from her inner circle, after they helped her get to the top, therefore it is thought under the invisible hand of Mnangagwa, the Women's league, through Grace, started to plot Mujuru's downfall.

However, without the support of the security services, such as army, police, air force and intelligence apparatus, it is impossible to win political power in Zimbabwe, which is Mujuru's waterloo.

The security establishment under the auspices of the Joint Operations Command (JOC), is in support of Mnangagwa instead. JOC brings together key state security organs, such as the army, police, intelligence and prisons. Influential security services officials such as Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF) Commander, Constantine Chiwenga and police boss Augustine Chihuri sit on JOC and are both believed, to be backing Mnangagwa, who heads the JOC confederacy.

It is thought the secretive JOC, is the real power behind the curtains insofar as the political running of the country is concerned, with Mugabe now reduced to a figurehead of the organisation. Critics accuse the organ of rigging elections on behalf of Zanu PF, together with administering a parallel government, which reports to itself and is not accountable to the State, parliament or cabinet.

The implications of these development on Mujuru's career are immense, with the biggest risk being that, she might fail to be re-elected as Zanu PF first vice president, during the December congress, leaving her in the cold, as she will automatically seize to be vice president in government. There are also serious fears, that the party might split into two, with Mujuru and Mnangagwa leading separate Zanu PF entities after congress.

Military

The military is playing a silent role, from the background in the whole saga. Top army generals, are said to be suspicious of Mujuru, if she is allowed to take over from Mugabe. It is a public secret in Zimbabwe that Mujuru, will seek to put closure to those behind, the tragic death of her husband, who many say died in a political assassination, which allegedly implicates some military officers. Those involved fear arrest, and furthermore Mujuru is seen cooperating, with the West amd international community, in the arraigning of security services bosses, involved in the country's brutal human rights violations and ethnic cleansing of the Ndebele people in the 1980's, during a violent genocide that claimed some 20 000 lives of mostly innocent women and children, before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Grace is therefore a natural choice, as she will likely be beholden to the military generals, and guarantee their immunity from prosecution, should she make a highly unlikely surprise spring into power. Furthermore, the military establishment has business ties and ventures with both Grace and Mnangagwa, especially in diamond mining, therefore a political relationship among them, will go on to enhance their business union.

Furthermore, Grace is now going to be leading the Women's league, which has some members, who are spouses of serving and retired security services officials. A good example is that of Grace herself, being married to Mugabe, who is the Commander in Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF).

It's not clear how far Grace can go in her bid to win nomination for a possible Zanu PF vice presidency should she go for the final kill, as the race has become open, with no solid contenders. However, she stands a very good chance of being appointed into cabinet, possibly as a minister for women and gender affairs after the congress, when a cabinet reshuffle is due.

The cabinet appointment, could earn her more experience in government, as she warms up to fight for nomination to contest the 2018 presidential election, should harm not come her way political experts contend.