Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Biodun Iginla, BBC News
Showing posts with label grace mugabe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grace mugabe. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Zimbabwe's first lady, Grace Mugabe, in key dates


by Natalie Duval and Biodun Iginla, France24, Harare


    © AFP/File | Grace Mugabe was seen as the power behind the throne -- but her ambitions to succeed her husband Robert Mugabe unleashed the crisis that led to his downfall

    HARARE - 
    Here are some key dates in the life of Grace Mugabe, wife of resigned president Robert Mugabe, whose ambitions to succeed him largely led to a military takeover.
    - July 23, 1965: Grace Marufu is born in South Africa.
    - 1996: Aged 31, she marries Robert Mugabe, 72, for whom she had been working as a secretary and having an affair. The couple already have two children.
    - 2002: She is included in an EU asset freeze and visa ban against members of Zimbabwe's political and military elite. The United States also imposes a visa ban.
    - 2009: Grace Mugabe allegedly assaults a British journalist trying to photograph her leaving a Hong Kong hotel. She is granted diplomatic immunity from prosecution.
    - 2010: Wikileaks releases a US diplomatic cable from 2008 that says that she is among Zimbabwean elites who gained millions of US dollars from illegal diamond mines. She sues the local The Standard newspaper for publishing the story.
    - September 2014: She is awarded a doctorate just months after enrolling at university, sparking student protests.
    - December 2014: Grace Mugabe is appointed president of the ruling ZANU-PF party's powerful Women's League and a member of its central committee, placing her high among the contenders to succeed her husband.
    - August 2017: She is accused of beating a model at a South African hotel with an extension cord. The South African government grants her diplomatic immunity from prosecution.
    - November 2017: Robert Mugabe fires vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa, a move seen as intended to open the way for his wife's succession. A few days later the military takes control of the country, leading to Mugabe's resignation on November 21.

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    Monday, November 20, 2017

    Zimbabwe latest: Mugabe 'let wife Grace usurp power'


    • November 20, 2017  18H:45  GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME 
    • From the sectionAfrica
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    Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe (L) with his wife Grace in a file photo taken in South Africa in 2014Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
    Image captionPresident Mugabe's party said his wife "has no right to run government"
    by Natalie Duval and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, Harare
    Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF party is set to begin impeachment proceedings against President Robert Mugabe, on charges he "allowed his wife to usurp constitutional power."
    The motion is now due to be presented to parliament on Tuesday.
    Senior party member Paul Mangawana said the process could take as little as two days to complete, and President Mugabe could be removed by Wednesday.
    A deadline set by Zanu-PF for his resignation passed on Monday.
    Grace Mugabe was seen as a potential successor to the ageing president before the military intervention last week.
    Zimbabwe's constitution allows for impeachment on grounds of "serious misconduct", "violation" of the constitution or "failure to obey, uphold or defend" it, or "incapacity".
    Mr Mangawana said President Mugabe had also failed to implement the constitution, and his advanced age meant he was no longer fit for office.
    "He is a stubborn man, he can hear the voices of the people, but is refusing to listen," he said.
    Impeachment proceedings are now expected to be launched on Tuesday, with votes in both the National Assembly and the Senate.
    Both chambers must then appoint a joint committee to investigate removing the president.
    If the committee recommends impeachment, the president can then be removed if both houses back it with two-thirds majorities.
    "We are expecting the motion to be moved tomorrow... and hopefully by Wednesday - because the charges are so clear - we expect that by Wednesday, we should be able to vote in parliament," Mr Mangawana said.
    "The main charge is that he has allowed his wife to usurp constitutional power when she has no right to run government. But she is insulting civil servants, the vice president, at public rallies. They are denigrating the army - those are the charges," he said.
    "He has refused to implement the constitution of Zimbabwe - particularly we had elections for the provincial councils, but up to now they have not been put into office."
    "He is of advanced age, that he no longer has the physical capacity to run government," he added.
    Media captionZimbabwe's week of upheaval in under two minutes
    On Sunday, Mr Mugabe gave a televised address which surprised many Zimbabweans because it made no mention of the pressure from his party and the public to quit.
    Surrounded by generals, he declared that the military had done nothing wrong by seizing power and placing him under house arrest.
    He then vowed to preside over the Zanu-PF party congress, due in a few weeks.
    The BBC's Africa Editor, Fergal Keane, said his understanding of the situation was that Mr Mugabe had agreed to resign, but then changed his mind.
    Mr Mugabe is now opposed by his own party as well as the political opposition, military, and powerful War Veterans Association.
    The public has also poured on to the streets in protest, calling for the end of Mr Mugabe's 37-year presidency.

    More on this story

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    • 20 November 2017
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    • From the sectionAfrica

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