Grace Mugabe likely to triumph succession race as she gives husband bold ultimatum

Grace Mugabe has given strong indications that she is the one in charge in Zimbabwe, she even dared give her husband, the president of Zimbabwe an ultimatum. No one in Zimbabwe has managed to do that without paying for it.  

At separate rallies with students and vendors at her children's home in Mazowe, Grace repeatedly said if Mugabe does not appoint people she and her faction prefer at the party's congress in December, they would gather - this time to protest against his decision.

At the meeting with students on Monday, Grace ordered Mugabe to take heed of her demands by getting rid of Mujuru.

"We chose her (Mujuru) to represent our interests but she has failed. We have had enough. Ivo baba havasi kuzvinzwa here kuti munhu ngaende (doesn't the president get it that people want Mujuru to go)," she said.

"Baba vakasaisa zvatisingafarire tichaungana zvakare pano (If the president does meet our demands we will gather here again). We are saying to the president you made a mistake and now correct that mistake!"

Mujuru was elected to the vice-presidency at the party's last congress in 2009, even if she was imposed in 2004 in a constitutional coup when the party amended its constitution to state that one of the deputies should be a woman.

The amendment was done then to block Justice minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, who had the support of at least seven provinces, giving him an unassailable majority.

Political analysts said the fact that Grace is acting independently confirms fears Mugabe is now a lame duck and losing control.

Grace revealed for the first time on Monday that she does not consult Mugabe on what to say or do at rallies but just speaks her mind out.

"Vazhinji vanonditi hee anofurirwa nana Muchinguri, Kasukuwere naMnangagwa (People say I am being influenced by Muchinguri, Kasukuwere and Mnangagwa). I have got brains. I don't even have a day where I have approached the President to tell me what to what to say at rallies," Grace pointed out.

University of Zimbabwe lecturer Professor Eldred Masunungure said there is now "a clear vacuum of power as the centre is no longer holding".

He said Grace's remarks suggest she is the de facto president of Zimbabwe.

"Generally, the First Lady of any nation wields a considerable amount of power behind closed doors. This is normally done covertly, surreptitiously and publicly it is never declared," he said.

"This is extremely odd that she (Grace) is coming out and declaring that she is in charge by giving the president an ultimatum publicly when she does not hold any formal or constitutional position in the party and government."

Masunungure added: "The scary part is what will happen when she gets formal power when now, without it, she speaks in a way that suggests that she is the de facto president, powerful and influential. What more when she has formal power?"

"It is a fact that First Ladies have power to influence the course of events behind the scenes but to come out openly and more or less suggest that I am running the show even if I don't have formal power is quite historic."

Masunungure said her advisors or instigators should be defining her limits - what she can and cannot say.

"These are fearful moments. I thought the president was manoeuvring things in the background but if she is not consulting him, it means the country is in trouble," Masunungure said.

"Now, they take or wait for instructions from her. She is not the only one with informal power but the council of elders of war veterans. It all speaks to anarchy. It is a moment of chaos within the party and the country."

Meanwhile as Grace Mujuru is being destroyed by accusations of corruption, which may in fact be true, Mnangagwa would do best to not feel a false sense of security.

Apparently, a new shadowy Zanu PF lobby group, Vana VaChaminuka, has called on President Robert Mugabe to urgently intervene in the ongoing internal party fights and clip Justice minister Emmerson Mnangagwa's wings, claiming he had become a "de facto Prime Minister".

The group claimed Mnangagwa now posed a serious threat to Mugabe as he had successfully "sneaked into the First Family's tent" from where he launched a campaign to purge all officials linked to his rival Vice-President Joice Mujuru's camp.

The group, which claimed to represent party youths, said they had drafted a petition which they would present to Mugabe soon, urging the veteran politician to be wary of Mnangagwa's alleged underhand machinations to usurp power.

In the petition, the group is also lobbying Zanu PF founder members to hand over the leadership baton to the party's Young Turks, among them Information minister Jonathan Moyo, Tourism minister Walter Mzembi, Environment minister Saviour Kasukuwere and politburo member and Mugabe's nephew Patrick Zhuwao.

"We are also lobbying Gushungo (Mugabe's clan name) to clip Mnangagwa's wings, it's time the entire generation of liberators took a rest and promoted youthful leaders like Jonathan Moyo, Mzembi, Kasukuwere and Zhuwao," the group said.

"It's time Zanu PF became a world-class political party that can deliver election promises and for once successfully implement an economic blueprint like the ZimAsset document," the statement by the group read in part.

The group said it was fully behind First Lady Grace Mugabe and wanted her succeed her husband.

"Mnangagwa has played his cards very well and is now the de facto Prime Minister. What Mugabe fails to realise is that the ground is now very shaky under his feet. Building his political power around Mnangagwa is really as good as building on quicksand. The same impunity, the same vigour and weaponry used against Amai Mujuru can be used against Gushungo should he ever stray from Mnangagwa's perceived path," Vana VaChaminuka's statement reads.

"If (Harare provincial youth chairman (Godwin) Gomwe and crew can besiege the airport to block a sitting Vice-President, then surely if ordered, they can do so on a sitting President," the group said in apparent reference to an incident where a group of Zanu PF youths allegedly aligned to Mnangagwa stormed Harare International Airport early this week in a bid to block Mujuru from flying out of the country.

The group said the continued purge on Mujuru members was making the under-fire Vice-President more popular such that if she decided to walk out of Zanu PF, that would be a "catastrophe" to Mugabe.

"Gushungo has no control at all of the Mnangagwa centre of power, as it is unconstitutional, but powerful enough to change the constitution of the ruling party. These mobs that gather in these demonstrations, be it against Mujuru or (Energy minister Dzikamai) Mavhaire, are mobs controlled by Mnangagwa and should he refuse to share his mobs with Gushungo or use them against Gushungo, then surely we will be worse off than the Arab Spring."

The group added: "Those who brought the rumours to the First Lady that Amai Mujuru hated the First Lady clearly had an agenda, and clearly they too had to say something to Amai Mujuru to provoke her into reacting and speaking ill so that they could then record the conversation in parts that suited their agenda.

"It is really a shame that people like Sydney Sekeramayi, Didymus Mutasa, Nicholas Goche, Jabulani Sibanda and many more who have been very loyal to Gushungo are now being played against Gushungo.

"There really was no need to embarrass Joice Mujuru as she was still going to be thrashed by Gushungo had she stood against him in the race for the Zanu PF presidency. Mugabe should now be very careful and not step on Mnangagwa's toes as he has proved that he now has more political muscle and influence in Zanu PF than Gushungo himself."

Acting Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo could not be reached to comment on these claims but if true, they show that Grace has her plan on keeping Mnangagwa in check and he could in future face the same fate as that currently besieging Mujuru.

Grace has spoken of secret recording on Mujuru, who says she doesn't have any on Mnangagwa or anyone else who may be a threat?

Ray Kaukonde has already faced her wrath even though he is rumoured to have helped her secure a job as Mugabe's secretary those many years ago.

She, more than anyone is aware of the enemies she has made and she knows the threats she is facing.

If she has triumphed for the last twenty or so years, who is to say she won't succeed when her husband is gone?