Robert Mugabe's Hong Kong apartment

By Malcolm Moore in Shanghai

Mr Mugabe, 84, and his wife Grace, 44, whose country is mired with poverty, hunger and hyper-inflation, also have a network of financial interests throughout the Far East, according to a Sunday newspaper.

They have bought a luxury apartment in Hong Kong's Tai Po district through a middleman, the paper claimed.

It said that they did so through a holding company called Cross Global, which purchased House Number Three in a new property development called JC Castle.

The development is a walled and gated complex complete with gardens, a clubhouse and a swimming pool. Situated in the northern reaches of Hong Kong, the development is targeted at affluent Hong Kong residents who are seeking to escape the smog of downtown.

The complex was built by Albert Yeung, one of the island's most colourful tycoons, who has been repeatedly accused of having links to both organised crime and the Chinese Communist Party but has never been convicted and denies any wrongdoing.

Both of Mrs Mugabe's children have been educated in Asia. Her son Russell, by her first husband, studied in Bangkok while Bona, her daughter with Mr Mugabe, is currently at Hong Kong university, despite a public outcry.
The Mugabes visited Hong Kong last year, taking up two floors of the Shangri-La hotel in Kowloon and running up a bill of tens of thousands of pounds, all of which was paid in cash. According to reports in the Zimbabwean media, $92,000 (£64,000) was withdrawn from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, the country's central bank, before the trip.
Grace Mugabe is also mulling over a multi-million pound diamond venture on the Chinese mainland, sending diamonds to be cut in Qingdao. In addition to the latest apartments, the Mugabes are thought to have several more properties throughout South East Asia and close links not only with the Chinese government, but also with the former Malaysian prime minister, Mahathir bin Mohamad.

Bona’s opulent mansion present complete

HARARE – An online publication, The Telescope News, on Tuesday reported that  Zimbabwe’s first
daughter, Bona Nyepudzai Mugabe, has been presented with keys to a new multi-million dollar plush mansion in Mazowe, as a belated wedding gift by her spendthrift mother, Grace Mugabe, to secure her daugther’s future, although the family reportedly owns an array of other villas and real estate property inside and outside the country.
The three-storey mansion, which has been constructed by a reputable Chinese construction firm, and almost the same size as the Mugabe’s famous Borrowdale “blue roof” mansion, will come as another bonanza for Nyepudzai, after President Mugabe surrendered his historic Mt Pleasant house, at 40 Quorn Road where he lived before he became prime minister in 1980, together with his first wife Sally Mugabe as an official present for his daughter who tied the knot in May to mysterious pilot husband, Simba Chikore.
Revelations of Bona’s mansion, which was first widely reported by local media, as belonging to Grace, with other sections speculating that, the mansion built at Mapfeni Farm, was Mugabe’s new mansion, come amid reports that Mugabe’s youngest son, Bellarmine Chatunga, is set to inherit his father’s Borrowdale palace, which Mugabe claims is a donation from his Zanu PF party.
“That mansion in Mazowe ndeya Bona (is for Bona),” said a staffer at Amai Mugabe Junior School in Mazowe, which is opposite to the massive property. “We got wind that the President has declared that their official residence in Borrowdale, is to be inherited by Chatunga. Although the boy is naughty, VaMugabe (Mugabe) has a soft spot for him. You know they say a child you make in your old age, represents your strength. Initially Bona, was meant to move into the Borrowdale mansion later, but Mugabe wants that mansion to be in Chatunga’s name. So an alternative has been found for Bona.”
The President’s Office insisted on  a written fax, before being able to respond, to our questions. “We do not take direct calls from reporters. Please send us a written fax, with your inquiry,” said a press officer.
Bona’s mansion is coming at a heavy price for farmers and ordinary farm workers in the area. The first lady has been seizing land without ceasing since the land reform blitz began in 2000, turning Mazowe into a personal family fiefdom. Grace Mugabe, despite allegedly displacing hundreds of families, and costing a citrus concern its business after claiming more land on the company’s farm, argues that she needs the land to develop her many projects, including the expansion of her orphanage in the area. There are also plans to expand the Amai Mugabe Junior School, and ambitions of constructing a university, sources said this week.
The first family acording to press reports, is also linked to the eviction of over 900 families at Manzou Farm in Mazowe, following indications that the Mugabe’s wants to annex the property and turn it into a wildlife sanctuary.
“The land is no longer sufficient to sustain the projects the First Lady has on her sleeves,” said Minister of State for Provincial Affairs in Mashonaland Central, Martin Dinha, recently and publicly promising the Mugabes more land in his province.
“We are working on the papers to stretch the land so that she can have more land to do her projects. Some people might say ‘The First Lady is greedy, why does she want more land?’, but we are saying it is justified for her to have more land.”
Mazowe residents and farmers who spoke to this publication , say the new Mapfeni farm mansion, has been built using local materials, but most of the interior designs and security equipment is from Hong Kong and China. Some of the features of the imposing mansion, among other things includes:

• Two conical towers similar to the Great Zimbabwe towers on either side of the gate.
• Two metres high security wall.
• State of the art surveillance cameras.
• Luxurious carport.
• Swimming pool and modern gym.
• Numerous bedrooms and bathrooms.
• Guest house.

The first family’s other known mansions are in Hong Kong, and Malaysia. In Malaysia, Mugabe, reportedly owns another luxurious villa located in Bukit Tunku in Kaula Lumpur.
Bukit Tunku is famed for being the Beverly Hills of Malaysia, and is somewhat similar to Harare’s posh Borrowdale Brooke enclave housing the country’s powerful elites, where residents share almost the same address but with different house numbers and unique security provisions.

Bona’s $7 million mansion deal goes sour

The dispute over ownership of the house in Hong Kong that President Robert Mugabe’s daughter
Bona used while at university has spilled over into the courts. According to court papers, the government of Zimbabwe claims that it is the owner of the $7 million mansion.
The Hong Kong companies’ registry records that the three-story house was bought by Chinese businessman Hsieh Ping-Sung thought his company Cross Global in 2008. In 2010 the company sold it to Hsieh. He has refused to hand over the title deeds to the property.
The Mugabe family has had other business dealings with Hseih that went sour. They accuse the businessman of stealing $1 million from a trucking deal. Observers say the latest dispute shows the extent to which the Mugabe’s and their Zanu (PF) colleagues have gone to hide the acquisition of valuable assets abroad. They also question why, if the house belonged to the government and not the Mugabe family, it was occupied by Bona Mugabe. It is not clear who is footing the legal bill in the battle to get the deeds back from Hsieh.

Mugabe approaches court over Hong Kong luxury pad

President Robert Mugabe has approached a Hong Kong court over a luxury home which was reportedly bought by a middleman for use by his daughter, Bona, while attending university in that country.
When the deal was revealed in 2009 Mugabe denied owning the property claiming that he was only renting it for ‘our daughter and her friends.’ At the time Mugabe insisted that he did not own any other property outside Zimbabwe.
But according to a Wednesday report in the South China Morning Post, the government of Zimbabwe, led by Mugabe, is suing businessman Hsieh Ping-sung and a company, Cross Global.
In 2009 it was reported that Mugabe forked out HK$40 million for the three storey pad. Reports then suggested that Ping bought the property on behalf of Mugabe through Cross Global, in which he was the sole shareholder.
The company is reported to have then sold the property to Hsieh in 2010. According to the report, court papers show that Ping then transferred all his shares in Cross Global to a South African named as Johan Carel Nel.
The report said the Zimbabwean government is claiming that Cross Global is holding the property for it in its trust. It is also asking the court to order Cross Global and Ping to transfer the property to it. Mugabe is also asking the court to nullify the transfer of the property between Cross Global and Ping.
Reports this week said Ping and Grace Mugabe fell out over a botched deal to buy trucks in which Grace is claiming that Ping had stolen $1 million from her. Grace’s aide is reported to have told the Sunday Times of South Africa that the money was sent to Ping in South African to buy trucks, which were never delivered.
Grace, who was also said to be involved in a mining joint venture with Ping, has previously tried to have the businessman arrested and extradited to Zimbabwe.

Grace Mugabe defrauded of US$1m in truck case

A South African court has thrown out an attempt by Zimbabwe’s Attorney General (AG) to extradite

a former business partner of First Lady Grace Mugabe to stand trial in Zimbabwe for allegedly defrauding her of $1 million in a botched trucks deal.

Four South African drivers who delivered trucks to Grace from Chinese businessman Ping Sung Hsieh are already before the court in Zimbabwe over the matter. Hsieh is based in South Africa. Grace, through her aide Olga Bungu, allegedly ordered six trucks from Ping.

The drivers, Cassim Jee Bilal, Henry Radebe, Samuel Baloyi and Sydney Sekgobela, were arrested after delivering only three trucks to Grace’s orphanage in Mazowe. To worsen the situation, the three trucks were allegedly second-hand vehicles in breach of the deal.

The trial of the drivers has been postponed several times as the court gave the AG’s office more time to facilitate the extradition of Hsieh from South Africa so he could be jointly charged with the drivers on fraud charges. But South African magistrate Pieter du Plessis rejected the extradition request.
Beatrice Mtetwa, the drivers’ lawyer told the Daily News that the state could no longer delay trial on the basis of the extradition request following magistrate du Plessis’ ruling. “I expect trial to kick off on August 29 because the Attorney General’s office cannot keep on using Hsieh as an excuse, knowing very well that he is not coming,” said Mtetwa.
Harare magistrate Shane Kubonera on August 3 ruled that he would consider releasing the drivers’ passports if the state failed to furnish a trial date on August 29 when the men next appear before him. Daily News
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A South African court has thrown out an attempt by Zimbabwe’s Attorney General (AG) to extradite a former business partner of First Lady Grace Mugabe to stand trial in Zimbabwe for allegedly defrauding her of $1 million in a botched trucks deal. - See more at: http://nehandaradio.com/2011/08/19/new-twist-to-grace-mugabe-truck-case/#sthash.Ii7RifVL.dpuf

A South African court has thrown out an attempt by Zimbabwe’s Attorney General (AG) to extradite a former business partner of First Lady Grace Mugabe to stand trial in Zimbabwe for allegedly defrauding her of $1 million in a botched trucks deal. - See more at: http://nehandaradio.com/2011/08/19/new-twist-to-grace-mugabe-truck-case/#sthash.Ii7RifVL.dpuf

A South African court has thrown out an attempt by Zimbabwe’s Attorney General (AG) to extradite a former business partner of First Lady Grace Mugabe to stand trial in Zimbabwe for allegedly defrauding her of $1 million in a botched trucks deal. - See more at: http://nehandaradio.com/2011/08/19/new-twist-to-grace-mugabe-truck-case/#sthash.Ii7RifVL.dpuf

A South African court has thrown out an attempt by Zimbabwe’s Attorney General (AG) to extradite a former business partner of First Lady Grace Mugabe to stand trial in Zimbabwe for allegedly defrauding her of $1 million in a botched trucks deal. - See more at: http://nehandaradio.com/2011/08/19/new-twist-to-grace-mugabe-truck-case/#sthash.Ii7RifVL.dpuf

A South African court has thrown out an attempt by Zimbabwe’s Attorney General (AG) to extradite a former business partner of First Lady Grace Mugabe to stand trial in Zimbabwe for allegedly defrauding her of $1 million in a botched trucks deal. - See more at: http://nehandaradio.com/2011/08/19/new-twist-to-grace-mugabe-truck-case/#sthash.Ii7RifVL.dpuf

A South African court has thrown out an attempt by Zimbabwe’s Attorney General (AG) to extradite a former business partner of First Lady Grace Mugabe to stand trial in Zimbabwe for allegedly defrauding her of $1 million in a botched trucks deal. - See more at: http://nehandaradio.com/2011/08/19/new-twist-to-grace-mugabe-truck-case/#sthash.Ii7RifVL.dpuf

A South African court has thrown out an attempt by Zimbabwe’s Attorney General (AG) to extradite a former business partner of First Lady Grace Mugabe to stand trial in Zimbabwe for allegedly defrauding her of $1 million in a botched trucks deal. - See more at: http://nehandaradio.com/2011/08/19/new-twist-to-grace-mugabe-truck-case/#sthash.Ii7RifVL.dpuf

Names of Zim politicians fingered in corrupt activities by a report

 An anti corruption group in Southern Africa has called for the prosecution of Robert Mugabe and 55 other top ZANU PF officials and companies accused of corruption.
The Anti Corruption Trust of Southern Africa has listed the Zimbabwean officials in a news report titled: “Corruption Cases: Lest We Forget: Bad Leadership Examples for Accountability, Transparency and Integrity in Zimbabwe.” Senior officials including Mugabe, his wife Grace and high level government ministers were named as having been implicated in major corruption cases that have never been finalised.
The group has now demanded that all the cases be reopened and all guilty parties be prosecuted. Norman Tjombe, the Chairperson of the Trust, told SW Radio Africa that their research was done over a year, because of concern that corruption was affecting an already troubled political system in Zimbabwe.
“The governance system is fraught with difficulties and part of that is because the political system is so corrupt. We wanted to see if these issues were dealt with to pressurise the different practitioners responsible for prosecution of corruption cases to take up the matter,” Tjombe said.
He said that the impunity in Zimbabwe must end, explaining how “many people’s hands are tainted with corruption and they cannot sit in public office.”
The group has made extensive recommendations, with the main recommendation being that the corruption cases be revisited, regardless of who stands accused.
“People implicated in these incidents must not sit in public office simply because those who sit in that office have the trust of citizens of Zimbabwe and must be beyond reproach. Part of the problem has been that the list of 56 people includes the who’s-who in Zimbabwe, right up to presidents office, the first lady, several ministers, companies are implicated and perhaps this is the reason why these cases aren’t going anywhere,” Tjombe said.
The names of the individuals, and the corruption cases they are implicated in, include:
1. President Robert Gabriel Mugabe (Airport Scandal);
2. Joyce Mujuru (ZISCO Scandal and the War Victims Compensation Fund);
3. Grace Mugabe (VIP Housing scandal and the Diamond Scandals);
4. Joseph Made (Kondozi Scandal and Fertiliser scandal);
5. Mike Nyambuya (NOCZIM Scandal and Kondozi Scandal);
6. Francis Nhema (Asitroc Investment (Private) Limited Scandal);
7. Simbarashe Mumbengegwi (ZISCO Scandal);
8. Stan Mudenge (VIP Housing Scandal and ZISCO Scandal);
9. Obert Mpofu (ZISCO Scandal/ Marange or Chiadzwa Diamonds Scandal);
10. Patrick Chinamasa (Interference with the functions of the
Judiciary and ZISCO Scandal)
11. Ignatius Chombo (Acquisition of Massive Wealth, Constituency
Development Fund Scandal and the ZUPCO Scandal);
12. Didymus Mutasa (Kondozi Scandal);
13. Olivia Muchena (ZISCO Scandal);
14. Sithembiso Nyoni (ZISCO Scandal);
15. Christopher Mushowe (Kondozi Scandal and the University of
Zimbabwe Scandal);
16. Oppah Muchinguri (NOCZIM Scandal and VIP Housing scandal);
17. Phillip Chiyangwa (NOCZIM Scandal);
18. Kumbirai Kangai (GMB Scandal);
19. Tinaye Chigudu (NOCZIM Scandal);
20. Enock Porusingazi(NOCZIM Scandal);
21. Esau Mupfumi (NOCZIM Scandal);
22. Fred Kanzama (NOCZIM Scandal);
23. Mike Madiro (Kondozi Scandal);
24. Robert Gumbo (Kondozi Scandal);
25. Robin Shava (War Victims Compensation Fund);
26. Wilfred Mhanda (War Victims Compensation Fund);
27. Vivian Mwashita (War Victims Compensation Fund);
28. B Muranhwa (War Victims Compensation Fund);
29. Perence Shiri (War Victims Compensation Fund);
30. Oppah Rushesha (War Victims Compensation Fund);
31. Reward Marufu (War Victims Compensation Fund);
32. Augustine Chihuru (War Victims Compensation Fund and the VIP
Housing scandal);
33. Herbert Mahlaba (War Victims Compensation Fund);
34. Edgar Tekere (War Victims Compensation Fund);
35. Tirivanhu Mudariki (ZISCO Scandal);
36. Gibson Munyoro (ZISCO Scandal);
37. Gabriel Masanga (ZISCO Scandal);
38. Rodwell Rukuno (ZISCO Scandal);
39. Bright Matonga (ZUPCO Scandal);
40. Charles Nherera (ZUPCO Scandal);
41. Enock Kamushinda (Interference with the functions of the Judiciary);
42. Simon Pazvakavambwa (Fertiliser Scandal);
43. Gideon Gono (Fertiliser scandal, and Diamond Scandals);
44. Sam Pa (Diamond Scandals);
45. Sino Zimbabwe (Diamond Scandals);
46. Anjin Investments (Diamond Scandals);
47. Nyasha Mujuru (Diamond Scandals);
48. Bonwell Chakaodza (VIP Housing Scandal);
49. Tichaona Jokonya (VIP Housing Scandal);
50. Leo Mugabe (Harare Airport Scandal);
51. Paddington Garwe (VIP Housing Scandal);
52. William Gumbochuma (VIP Housing Scandal);
53. Marvelous Khumalo (Constituency Development Fund Scandal);
54. Albert Mhlanga (Constituency Development Fund Scandal);
55. Cleophas Machacha (Constituency Development Fund Scandal); and
56. Franco Ndambakuwa (Constituency Development Fund Scandal).

Grace Mugabe grabs 1 600 ha of land

Zimbabwe's First Lady Grace Mugabe has grabbed 1 600 hectares of land from a prime farm on the
outskirts of the capital Harare, triggering a fresh high profile land row.
However, authorities have defended the First Lady's land grab claiming she needed more space to expand her orphanage.
President Robert Mugabe's wife, Grace has a sprawling orphanage and a school named Amai Mugabe Junior School located in the prime farming area of Mazoe.
Government officials say Grace needed more land for the expansion of her school, which has an initial enrolment of just 97.
A listed company, Interfresh owns the orange farming land that Grace has taken over.
Some of the company's workers are said to have also been taken over by the First Lady.
In a statement on Tuesday, Interfresh confirmed losing land in Mazowe, saying the Lands Ministry had designated the property.
"Shareholders are advised that the Ministry of Lands and Rural Resettlement has advised the company that a portion measuring 1 5997 hectares, which was part of Mazoe Citrus Estate, has been allocated to another party," company secretary, Tawanda Namusi said.
In their statement, Interfresh said the portion allocated represented 46% of Mazoe Citrus Estate's total arable land, 30% of its budgeted revenue for the financial year 2013 and 52% of the value of immovable and biological assets.
They have since lodged an appeal with the Ministry of Lands and Rural Resettlement.
The takeover could throw hundreds of farm labourers onto the streets and cut supplies for downstream industries, which rely on citrus syrup extracted from the estate.
Interfresh has been traditionally a key supplier of citrus syrup for some of the country's beverage makers.
Grace has often been accused of grabbing land and property with impunity because of her high rank.
Last October, Grace was quoted saying "The primary school we are building is through a US$7 million grant that I got from the Chinese after I went there to study their language.
They said you are the only First Lady who has come to learn Mandarin, so we will honour you". - the african report

Grace, Robert Mugabe mentioned by report among 56 most corrupt individuals

A regional anti-corruption watchdog - Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa (ACT) has named
Zimbabwe's veteran ruler President Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace among the country's top 56 corrupt individuals.


In a report  titled "Corruption Cases: Lest We Forget: Bad Leadership Examples for Accountability, Transparency and Integrity in Zimbabwe", Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa said according to their findings the Mugabes and senior Zanu PF officials have fleeced the southern African country of billions of dollars.


ACT-Southern Africa regional coordinator Alouis Munyaradzi Chaumba says all corruption cases which are packed in the courts should be revisited and all culprits prosecuted.
"The impression created is that they are above the law. All these cases should be investigated or else we are going to compel them to do so through the courts of law," he said.
The ACT-Southern Africa report highlights cases that include: Diamond Scandals, the looting of the War Victims Compensation Fund, the VIP Housing Scam, the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (ZISCO) scandal, the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO) scandal, the Kondozi Estate looting, the Willowvale scandal, the fertiliser input scandal, the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCZIM) scandal, and the Harare Airport Extension scandal.
According to the reports, whose findings where complied by studying media reports in post-independence implicates Mugabe in the $7 billion Harare International airport expansion deal in 1999.
Mugabe's case came to light after a Saudi national, Hani Yamani, owner of Air Harbour Technologies (AHT) - a company that Mugabe seconded to win the tender to expand the airport - wrote to him in July 1999 complaining of "excessive kickbacks".
"Alongside the construction of the airport terminal, AHT funded the construction of a private residence for President Mugabe. Furthermore, Yamani donated $50 000 to Zanu PF and made payments to two senior cabinet ministers," the report reads.
Grace Mugabe is cited in the controversial VIP housing project in 1995 when she, alongside top Zanu PF hawks, allegedly grabbed houses meant for low-earning civil servants in the "pay-for your-house scheme".
Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa says most of the case were not investigated as enquiries were kept under wraps by the government to allegedly protect corrupt officials.

Grace Mugabe has no constitutional standing to call for VP's resignation

92 Election of President and Vice-Presidents
(1) The election of a President and two Vice-Presidents must take place within the period specified in section 158.
(2) Every candidate for election as President must nominate two persons to stand for election jointly with him or her as Vice-Presidents, and must designate one of those persons as his or her candidate for first Vice-President and the other as his or her candidate for second Vice-President.
(3) The President and the Vice-Presidents are directly elected jointly by registered voters throughout Zimbabwe, and the procedure for their election is as prescribed in the Electoral Law.
(4) The qualifications for registration as a voter and for voting at an election of a President and Vice-Presidents are set out in the Fourth Schedule.
(5) The election of a President and Vice-Presidents must take place concurrently with every general election of members of Parliament, provincial councils and local authorities.

93 Challenge to presidential election
(1) Subject to this section, any aggrieved candidate may challenge the validity of an election of a President or Vice-President by lodging a petition or application with the Constitutional Court within seven days after the date of the declaration of the results of the election.
(2) The election of a Vice-President may be challenged only on the ground that he or she is or was not qualified for election
(3) The Constitutional Court must hear and determine a petition or application under subsection (1) within fourteen days after the petition or application was lodged, and the court’s decision is final.
(4) In determining a petition or application under subsection (1), the Constitutional Court may––
(a) declare a winner;
(b) invalidate the election, in which case a fresh election must be held within sixty days after the determination; or
(c) make any other order it considers just and appropriate.
(5) If, in a petition or application under subsection (1)—
(a) the Constitutional Court sets aside the election of a President, the election of the President’s two Vice-Presidents is automatically nullified;
(b) the Constitutional Court sets aside the election of either or both Vice-Presidents, the President must without delay appoint a qualified person or qualified persons, as the case may be, to be Vice-President or Vice-Presidents.
 
94 Assumption of office by President and Vice-Presidents
(1) Persons elected as President and Vice-Presidents assume office when they take, before the Chief Justice or the next most senior judge available, the oaths of President and Vice-President respectively in the forms set out in the Third Schedule, which oaths they must take—
(a) on the ninth day after they are declared to be elected; or
(b) in the event of a challenge to the validity of their election, within forty-eight hours after the Constitutional Court has declared them to be the winners.
(2) The incumbent President continues in office until the assumption of office by the President-elect in terms of subsection (1).
(3) A Vice-President who becomes President on the death, resignation or removal from office of the President assumes office when he or she takes, before the Chief Justice or the next most senior judge available, the oath of President in the form set out in the Third Schedule, which oath he or she must take as soon as possible and in any event within forty-eight hours after the office of President became vacant.

95 Term of office of President and Vice-Presidents
(1) The term of office of the President or a Vice-President commences on the day he or she is sworn in and assumes office in terms of section 94(1)(a) or 94(3), but where there has been a challenge to the election and he or she is sworn in after the Constitutional Court has declared him or her to be the winner, the term of office is deemed to have commenced on the ninth day after polling in the election concerned.
(2) The term of office of the President or a Vice-President extends until—
(a) he or she resigns or is removed from office; or
(b) following an election, he or she is declared to be re-elected or a new President is declared to be elected;
and, except as otherwise provided in this Constitution, their terms of office are five years and coterminous with the life of Parliament.

96 Resignation of President or Vice-President
(1) The President may resign his or her office by written notice to the Speaker, who must give public notice of the resignation as soon as it is possible to do so and in any event within twenty-four hours.
(2) A Vice-President may resign his or her office by written notice to the President, who must give public notice of the resignation as soon as it is possible to do so and in any event within twenty-four hours.
 
97 Removal of President or Vice-President from office
(1) The Senate and the National Assembly, by a joint resolution passed by at least one-half of their total membership, may resolve that the question whether or not the President or a Vice-President should be removed from office for—
(a) serious misconduct;
(b) failure to obey, uphold or defend this Constitution;
(c) wilful violation of this Constitution; or
(d) inability to perform the functions of the office because of physical or mental incapacity;
should be investigated in terms of this section.
(2) Upon the passing of a resolution in terms of subsection (1), the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders must appoint a joint committee of the Senate and the National Assembly consisting of nine members reflecting the political composition of Parliament, to investigate the removal from office of the President or Vice-President, as the case may be.
(3) If—
(a) the joint committee appointed in terms of subsection (2) recommends the removal from office of the President or Vice-President; and
(b) the Senate and the National Assembly, by a joint resolution passed by at least two-thirds of their total membership, may resolve that the President or -Vice-President, as the case may be, should be removed from office;
the President or Vice-President thereupon ceases to hold office.

98 Presidential immunity
(1) While in office, the President is not liable to civil or criminal proceedings in any court for things done or omitted to be done in his or her personal capacity.
(2) Civil or criminal proceedings may be instituted against a former President for things done and omitted to be done before he or she became President or while he or she was President.
(3) The running of prescription in relation to any debt or liability of the President arising before or during his or her term of office is suspended while he or she remains in office.
(4) In any proceedings brought against a former President for anything done or omitted to be done in his or her official capacity while he or she was President, it is a defence for him or her to prove that the thing was done or omitted in good faith.

99 Functions of Vice-Presidents
The Vice-Presidents assist the President in the discharge of his or her functions and perform any other functions, including the administration of any Ministry, department or Act of Parliament, that the President may assign to them.
 
100 Acting President
(1) Whenever the President is absent from Zimbabwe or is unable to exercise his or her official functions through illness or any other cause, those functions must be assumed and exercised—
(a) by the first Vice-President;
(b) where the first Vice-President is unable to exercise those functions, by the second Vice-President; or
(c) if there is no Vice-President who is able to exercise the functions, by a Minister—
(i) designated for such an eventuality by the President; or
(ii) nominated by the Cabinet, where no Minister has been designated by the President in terms of subparagraph (i).
(2) Except in accordance with a resolution passed by a majority of the total membership of the Cabinet, a person exercising the functions of the office of President in terms of subsection (1) must not exercise the power of the President—
(a) to deploy the Defence Forces;
(b) to enter into any international convention, treaty or agreement;
(c) to appoint or revoke the appointment of a Vice-President, Minister or Deputy Minister; or
(d) to assign or reassign functions to a Vice-President, Minister or Deputy Minister, including, in the case of a Vice-President or Minister, the administration of any Act of Parliament or of any Ministry or department, or to cancel any such assignment of functions.
 
101 Succession in event of death, resignation or incapacity of President or Vice-President
(1) If the President dies, resigns or is removed from office—
(a) the first Vice-President assumes office as President until the expiry of the former President’s term of office;
(b) the second Vice-President assumes office as first Vice-President until the expiry of the former President’s term of office; and
(c) upon assuming office as President, the former first Vice-President must appoint a qualified person to be second Vice-President until the expiry of the former President’s term of office.
(2) If the first Vice-President dies, resigns or is removed from office—
(a) the second vice-President assumes office as first Vice-President until the expiry of the former first Vice-President’s term of office; and
(b) the President must without delay appoint a qualified person to be second Vice-President until the expiry of the former first Vice-President’s term of office.

Background to the Mujurus diamond company referred to by Grace Mugabe

Much of what Grace Mugabe is accusing Joice Mujuru of doing dates back to 2006 according to a report called Reap What You Sow: Greed and Corruption in Zimbabwe’s Marange Diamond Fields that was compiled by a group called Africa Partnership Canada. The company - African Consolidated Resources - Grace talks of was the first to file a diamond claim March 2006. See the chronology below.
Marange Chronology
Early 1990s
De Beers secures an Exclusive Prospecting Order (EPO) for parts of Marange; undertakes preliminary samples but determines claim is neither viable nor in line with company practice to avoid alluvial deposits.
March 2006
African Consolidated Resources (ACR) files claim based on lapsed De Beer’s EPO.
June 2006
Government encourages ordinary Zimbabweans to mine in Marange; thousands descend.
October 2006
ACR evicted from land; Minister of Mines Amos Midzi awards mining and exploration rights to Zimbabwe Mineral Development Corporation (ZMDC); police and military step in to quell illegal mining and smuggling, with little success.
October-November 2008
Government launches Operation Hakudzowki (No Return), resulting in serious human rights abuses, including the deaths of over 200 illegal miners, massacred by ground troops and helicopter gunships.
February 2009
Obert Mpofu appointed Minister of Mines.
June-July 2009
Kimberley Process undertakes fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe. Hears evidence of serious human rights abuses in 2008 and 2009. Concludes Zimbabwe is non-compliant with minimum requirements, including widespread smuggling and direct involvement of military in mining.
November 2009
KP meets in Swakopmund, Namibia, imposes export embargo on Marange diamonds until noticeable improvements made. Government of Zimbabwe agrees to a Joint Work Plan (JWP), a roadmap to bring the country back into KP compliance.
June 2010
PAC issues a second report on Zimbabwe at KP meeting in Tel Aviv that finds evidence of ongoing human rights abuses and smuggling. KP maintains embargo on Marange diamonds.
July 2010
KP and Government of Zimbabwe negotiate “St Petersburg Agreement”, after a meeting in the Russian city. Deal allows for two exports in return for further improvement.
November 2010
Government of Zimbabwe demands KP lift embargo, declaring Marange operations “compliant”. Canadile implodes amidst corruption charges. KP meeting in Jerusalem ends in deadlock over lack of progress by Zimbabwe to meet terms of JWP.
March 2011
KP Chair, the Democratic Republic of Congo, erroneously green-lights Marange shipments, despite lack of consensus among KP members. Only South Africa accepts his interpretation; all other trading centres maintain import ban.
June 2011
Civil Society groups—one of the three pillars of the KP—walk out of KP meeting in Kinshasa in protest to disinterest by participant countries and industry to address continuing concerns about smuggling and rights violations.
November 2011
KP Plenary held in Kinshasa. For first time in 10-year history of KP, Civil Society stays away. Meeting concludes with lifting of export restrictions on Mbada and Canadile, now operating as Marange Resources. Subsequent companies to be granted exports dependent on positive approval of KP Monitor.
January 2012
Chinese company Anjin granted right to export.
February 2012
Diamond Mining Company (DMC), a Dubai-based company, wins right to export.

Solomon Mujuru made Robert Mugabe what he is today

When Herbert Chitepo was assassinated in March 1975, Zanu went into disarray. Most of the commanders among them Josiah Tongogara were arrested in Zambia.
The war at the front came to a standstill. Robert Mugabe, Enos Nkala, Edgar Tekere and Maurice Nyagumbo were in detention. Ndabaningi Sithole renounced the armed struggle.

At that same time, Mozambique had just become independent. Samora Machel had offered Zapu to open bases in his country. 

Rex Nhongo (Solomon Mujuru) who was a Zipla commander at the time was tasked with the opening up of bases in Mozambique. 

Zipla was also very active in the northern border – that is Dande, Guruve, Kariba and Muzarabani. With Zanu in disarray and torn apart by leadership squabbles, had Zapu managed to operate from Mozambique, Zanu would have become just another party.

At the same time, Bishop Abel Muzorewa had been brought as a bridge by Zanu to recruit youth who wanted to join the war and help them cross the borders. Muzorewa's ANC was in charge of the internal process. 

In his paper delivered at the University of Zimbabwe in 1992, Dumiso Dabengwa says Rex Nhongo left Zapu to join Zanu while opening up bases in Mozambique. Because of Nhongo's action, Zapu lost the bases to Zanu. But Samora Machel still believed that the bases were being set up by Zapu because he had agreed with the party's leadership.

With the eastern front securely in the hands of Zanu (stolen from Zapu and delivered to Zanu by Rex Nhongo if you like), Zanla cadres relocated to Mozambique including Tongogara and all those with whom he had been arrested.

Back in Zimbabwe, Mugabe, Tekere, Nyagumbo and Nkala were released from detention. The detainees had already forced Mugabe to take over as the leader of the party. They also tasked him together with Tekere to skip the country and go to Mozambique to lead the struggle.

Mugabe refused to accept the position arguing that it was against the party constitution. But the others argued that with Chitepo dead and Sithole against the armed struggle, Mugabe as the secretary was the most senior. So Mugabe and Tekere skipped the country with the help of the late Chief Rekayi Tangwena. 

Nyagumbo – true to his autobiography titled With the People – stayed home. 

Once in Mozambique, according to Tekere, Mugabe still believed that Muzorewa and his ANC were still part of the armed struggle deal. Tekere said Mugabe insisted that they should tell the people that they were in Mozambique at the behest of the ANC.

Since Samora Machel knew Zapu cadres, he was surprised to be introduced to Mugabe and Tekere. Suspicious, Machel sent the two to the coastal town of Quelimane.

The late freedom fighter, Wilfred Mhanda said in 1976, Rex Nhongo supported Robert Mugabe against the majority of the comrades over the Zimbabwe People's Army (Zipa) that had both Zipla and Zanla cadres.

Zipa was formed when Zanla commanders were in custody after the assassination of Chitepo. Zipa had the blessings of Julius Nyerere who was the chairman of the Frontline States.

But Mugabe did not want Zipa to continue and he ordered Mhanda to disband it. In his autobiography - Memories of a Freedom Fighter – Mhanda who was known as Dzinashe Machingura said Mugabe summoned him and other young military leaders at the Lusaka summit held in October 1976 and delivered a simple message: disband Zipa.

Mhanda said he responded by saying the decision on the matter could only be made by former Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere as chairman of the Frontline States.
“Mugabe was not in the least amused by my intervention, one could see his body language.” Mhanda said, adding Rex Nhongo hardly said a word and sat motionless throughout the meeting, Mhanda said.
“It was clear he (Rex Nhongo) was having consultations with Mugabe behind our backs,” wrote Mhanda.
Even when the went to consult Nyerere over Zipa, Mhanda said Mujuru did not accompany them.
“Mugabe now saw me as the chief obstacle to the imposition of Zanu PF’s leadership on Zipa’s military committee”, he wrote, adding that it was clear to the other Zipa leaders that the late Mujuru had entered a secret alliance with Mugabe while at the same time appearing to be supporting the cause of his military colleagues.
Mhanda also said:

• Zipa insisted Mugabe was still secretary general of Zanu and a new president would be elected at a congress after liberation.
  
• Zipa also opposed Mugabe’s unilateral decision to form a Zanu PF central committee packed with handpicked members, in violation of the party’s constitution.
  
• Zipa also saw unity with Zapu as central to thwarting imperialist machinations. Mugabe was vehemently opposed to unity with Zapu.
  

But Mugabe with Rex Nhongo's support resisted Zipa. Mhanda and all other commanders were then arrested and detained in January 1977 by Mugabe.
Mhanda said: Mujuru was “complicit in the treacherous scheme” to arrest the Zipa commanders, as he left early for camps to pacify the fighters ahead of the arrests.

Grace Mugabe tells war vets Mai Mujuru must resign (newsday)

NewsDay  gives you live updates of Amai Grace Mugabe’s meeting with war veterans at her Mazowe Orphanage Home.
Cynthia Matonhodze & Everson Mushava
14:27 “We request that dai achingoterera zvataurika kuti baba zvisavaomera. Takataura isu zvebaby dumping cause ndakati baba kana vakasakudumper, we will do it ourselves. But we don’t want to do that, umwe wedu. Akakumbira ruregerero tinomuregerera.”
14:25 “We know you don’t work. Just going kubasa wakaberekwa naMugabe, zvapera nhasi izvozvo.”
14:28 “I did not wrest Muchinguri’s post, why do you want remove Mugabe by force? I coup yavari kuda kutoita.”
14:21“Hanzi ini ndirikuda kuita President, why not, handisi mwana wemuZimbabwe here? Hoo iwe ndiwe wakakodzera nhai? Today we now say chizororai amai, vanogona vaenderere mberi.”
14:18 There are plenty of people who can run this country, not Mujuru…we cannot go back to where we were before independence.”
14:17 “People who support Mujuru may do so but Zimbabwe has one leader who has one wife.”
14:14 “Mai Mujuru’s combination with Kaukonde is pathetic, she surrounds herself with political prostitutes
14:13 “Daily News yakatengwa ndosaka muchiona vachingonyora nezvangu.”
14:12 “Mai Mujuru was moving around reading ZimAsset and buying people to take over. A lot were paid, I cannot name them, they might stroke.”
14:10 “Izvezvi zvainzi Grace arikufambirei achiita marally, why not? I am the First Lady.”
14:06 “Regai ndikupakurirei nyaya yaMai Mujuru zvishoma nezvishoma because your ear drums might burst.”
14:05 Amai says it doesnt mean kuti kana munhu asina kudzidza hazvireve kuti haasi wise.
14″07 “Mai Mujuru must resign!” Crowd erupts. She looks at Chinotimba and says “Kasi hausi kufara here?. Vacancy yamuka ka iyi.”
14:03 “Vakanditi I’m a fool but ndakati Okay, I’m a fool but muchandiona.”
14:00 “Mai Mujuru vaipfura nepano vasingauye pano. It’s just one day that passed by but she was in a hurry. I cried that day.”
13:59 “Kaukonde is a Mujuru agent, manje ndakamumaka big time. Iko kaye ndiko kane demon.” He was giving mayouths $75 kuti vaite noise kuMash East.
13:57 “Hakurarwe kumba ikoko, vatowonda futi… ”
13:54 “Amai ava havana chavakazoita nekuti she spent her time eying the President’s post.I don’t see kuti vakakodzera kutungamira nyika ino here.”
13:54 Amai says people should respect Mnangagwa, he was voted by 8 provinces to be VP but he did the honourable thing and let Mai Mujuru take the post.
13:52 “She wants to use money to topple Mugabe.” and the crowds shouts ‘Mai vakawora ivavo! Mabavha mbavha!”
13:46 Payouth league conference pakashanda mari, hatidi kunyepa.
13:44 Handitye , ndinotaura ini. Ndakati Chiwenga ngaauye nefiring squad and pump the bullets in me, they want to kill me, vaiti bhora musango in 2008, zvinoratidza kuti umwe wedu haana hunhu.
13:43 Amai says Mai Mujuru did an about turn on Robert Mugabe and wanted to push him out. She also says she has never heard Mai mujuru say pasi neMDC.
13:40 “Kana uri murume wotosunga mabrugwa diarrhoea isabude.”
13:39 Kana wanga uchisupporta Mai Mujuru buda izvezvi, today is the final push, moment of truth is here.
13:38 Ndini ndakaita kuti mai Mujuru vave paposition iyoy, ndakafara pavakaita VP.
13:37 Gives an example of how Sally Mugabe was in the women’s league so it is not a surprise kuti Amai vave muwomen’s league.
13:31 There is displeasure from the people at Ruwondo’s claims that he was looking out for the welfare of the war vets and Grace encourages the war vets to protest if their needs are not met.
13:30 Assures war vets that all their issues would be addressed and says that war vets deserve to be taken care of.
13:25 “All war veterans know what they did, not those who claim that they have downed a chopper. Let people say it than praise yourself only to be disapproved by others.” Grace.
13:22 Grace takes the mic “Pasi ne Gamatox!” and orders a moment of silence for the fallen heroes.
13:11 “I surrendered my post to Grace the game-changer after I realised that they wanted to take over the youths and women’s leagues”
13:09 She says the party is infested with Zvigandanga who are running parallel structures and that there are now two centers in government, creating Chaos.
13:09 Muchinguri thanks the war veterans for sacrifices in the liberation struggle and she says the struggle still continues and its now against the elite and bourgeois as well as the corrupt.
13:06 Muchinguri introduces ministers Chombo, Kasukuwere and Moyo and instructs Chombo to lead the slogan chanting.She also introduces Chinotimba and Supa Mandiwanzira and the crowd erupts.
13:03 Edna Madzongwe, Ignatius Chombo and Oppah Muchinguri all chant ‘Pasi neGamatox!’
12:53 Sikhosana said he is a section commander, no one will tough Amai when youths are there.
Mayor Wadyajena takes the mic and chants, ‘Pasi neGamatox!’
12:51 Kudzai Chipanga, the deputy secretary for youth affairs says he is Amai’s first born.
12:44 Today youth leaders are joined by Calvin Manyengavana from Manicaland who was not part of the youth provincial cheirpersons who escorted Grace on her nationwide rallies.
12:41 Godfrey Tsenengamu Provincial youth league chairperson introuduces youths
12:34 – Police band belting Simon Chimbetu’s ‘Ndarangarira Gamba.’ Chinotimba starts dancing for Amai.
12:29 War vets belting out liberation songs, chanting slogans “Amai, simbi yebasa!”
12:28 Chombo , Kasukuwere, Mandiwan zira  and Jonathan Moyo also in attendance.
12:27 Chinotimba and Madzongwe at the High table. - newsday

All the unexplained deaths of Zanu-PF rising stars

• Hebert Chitepo, who was killed in March 1975 by a car bomb in Lusaka. Several investigations have been hampered by lack of evidence, and theories about the motive and perpetrator abound. Former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda instituted an inquiry which made damning findings about infighting in Zanu-PF in exile. The inquiry also fingered Josiah Tongogara, the commander of Zanu's guerrilla army.
   
• Tongogara himself was killed in a car crash in Mozambique in 1979 while on his way to Zimbabwe, six days after the Lancaster House agreement was concluded. His vehicle rammed an army truck parked on the side of the road. The charismatic Zanla commander had clashed with Mugabe over the need for a government of national unity with Joshua Nkomo and speculation was also highlighted by his “ambition, popularity and decisive style". 
  
  
• William Ndangana — a leader of the war of liberation and senior Zanu PF member — died near Nyazura in a car accident on 27 June 1989. He was buried at the National Heroes Acre. Although he had some differences on cabinet appointment with Mugabe on tribal lines - him being Ndau from the east and Mugabe being Korekore from the West, he is said to have been mistakenly killed. Rumours that filtered soon after his death were that the idea was to kill Edgar Tekere who had defected from  ZANU-PF  to form Zimbabwe Unity Movement (ZUM). 
  During that fatal day, Tekere was supposed to travel from Harare to Mutare, but as luck would have it he decided to postpone his journey to evening. Ndangana travelled that afternoon and the army truck saw a Mercedes Benz coming and concluded it was Tekere's and they went for him. As a Manyika he was linked to the opposition ZUM as well. 
  
  
• Sydney “Donald” Malunga — a political activist, civic leader and outspoken Member of Parliament for Bulawayo’s Mpopoma constituency. He died on August 28, 1994 in a car accident. He was buried at the national shrine on September 3 of the same year.
  

• Chris Ushewokunze, a former ministry of industry and commerce, died at the age of 49 after a mysterious car accident at Suri Suri, about 110km from Bulawayo, on the road to Harare, in 1994. He had differed with Mugabe on economic policy.
  
  
• Witness Rukarwa (1995) - He was governor for Mashonaland West who also succumbed to a car crash. His death in a mysterious accident was linked to feuding within  ZANU-PF  and many believed it was the workings of ZANU-PF  and its people.
   
• Zororo Duri was rising rapidly through Zanu-PF ranks as one of the young technocrats seen as poised to take over the party in the mid-1990s. Party bosses had told him not to contest the chair of Manicaland province against Kumbirai Kangai, but he went ahead and won. Appointed ambassador to Cuba, he was killed in a car accident on the Mutare-Harare road in 1996.
  
  
• Edison Zvobgo (2004) - The Harvard trained lawyer and long time ally of Mugabe started criticising Mugabe's autocratic rule in the early 1990's. In 1996, he survived a car accident along Harare-Masvingo road. Both his legs were broken. Soon after the accident he was dropped from cabinet and this accident was considered suspicious by many. He had described the sweeping media laws as, "the most serious assault on our constitutional liberties since independence. He refused to campaign for Mugabe in 2002, but did not endorse Tsvangirai and his MDC. 
  
  
• Peter Pamire (1997) - The businessman's 4x4 Mitsubishi Pajero rolled in Borrowdale suburb of Harare while on his way from the airport and killed him instantly. Allegations were that he was seeing the First Lady Grace behind Mugabe's back. New evidence from the master-minders (CIO) of the assassination point at him being shot and lost control of the vehicle. Instead a metal rod was put on the track of the bullet to suggest that he died of injuries incurred in the accident.
   
• Moven Mahachi was minister of defence at the time of his death in a car accident in 2001 on the Mutare-Nyanga road after attending a Zanu-PF Manicaland meeting as national political commissar. In 2009 Enos Nkala, one of Zanu's founders, claimed that Mahachi was eliminated because of his robust opposition to Zanu-PF's looting of diamonds in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
  
  
• Winston Changara (2007) - The long time bodyguard of Robert Mugabe was accused of meddling in the private affairs of the first family, especially Grace. It all started when Grace refused to go with him on a trip abroad alleging sexual overtures from the assistant commissioner bodyguard. Grace wanted to do away with him because she had seen him to potentially spill the beans about the First Lady. He was demoted and never saw the first family again and while serving elsewhere in the police force he was involved in a car accident. He died a bitter man. 

• Paul Armstrong Gunda, a brigadier general and hero of the liberation war, died after his car allegedly collided with a train on the Harare-Marondera road in 2007. 
  

• Eliot Manyika, former youth minister, died in a road accident on the Zvishavane-Mbalabala road in 2008. In his capacity as national commissar he was travelling from Mutare to Gwanda on a Zanu-PF restructuring mission that could have upset the leadership ambitions of some top party officials.
  
  Manyika's family asked police to investigate, claiming that his injuries were inconsistent with a road accident. A close relative also claimed that he had received anonymous death threats. A tyre from his official Mercedes-Benz was sent to South Africa for forensic analysis, but the inquest found his death was consistent with a traffic accident.
   
• Border Gezi was killed when his car careered out of control after it had a blow-out on the Harare-Masvingo road. Gezi was travelling to Masvingo to address party supporters and reshuffle the political leadership in the province. Some theorists hold that he had decided to speak out against the seizure of white-owned farms. It is also believed that the Zanu-PF old guard was unhappy with his meteoric rise through the party's ranks.
   
• Solomon Mujuru  died, allegedly in a fire, at his farm in Beatrice in 2011. Many politically neutral Zimbabweans, and even some Zanu-PF supporters, believe Mujuru was murdered, and the speculation became so intense that his widow, Vice-President Joice Mujuru, had to appeal for calm. His family's request to have his remains exhumed and re-examined in a second postmortem by a South African pathologist were turned down. In his report,  the director of Zimbabwe's forensic science laboratory, Birthwell Mutandiro, said there were indications that Mujuru had died before the fire spread to the room in which his remains were found. (various sources)
  

Meet Zanu-PF warring factions

Emmerson Mnangagwa/ Grace Mugabe faction

Jonathan Moyo

Ignatius Chombo

Chris Mutsvangwa

Edna Madzongwe

Saviour Kasukuwere

Patrick Chinamasa

July Moyo

Phillip Chiyangwa

Patrick Zhuwawo

Oppah Muchinguri

Kembo Mohadi

Josiah Hungwe

Shuvai Mahofa
Joseph Chinotimba

Joyce Mujuru team

Nicholas Goche

Simon Khaya Moyo

Rugare Gumbo

Didymus Mutasa

Webster Shamu

Lazarus Dokora

Ray Kaukonde

Olivia Muchena

David Parirenyatwa

Mombeshora

Temba Mliswa

Dzikamai Mavhaire

* more names will be added.

The real reason why Grace Mugabe is angry with Joyce Mujuru and Ray Kaukonde

The real reason why Grace Mugabe is angry with Joyce Mujuru is not that the VP is corrupt – but that Grace's son Russell Goreraza was stopped from panning gold in Kadoma.

This is what Grace herself said during one of her rallies. She even called on Russell to stand up and come up to the podium as evidence.

If Grace was angry with Joyce Mujuru because she is corrupt, she should also be angry with herself because as a former typist who never had any other better paying job, there is no way that she could have amassed all that wealth without stealing.

Nobody can built a business from scratch, whatever that means. If people can built businesses from scratch, then all the women vendors who sit along the pavements in Harare until midnight would be running supermarkets.

If Grace is angry with Joyce Mujuru because the VP is corrupt, she should also be angry with Saviour Kasukuwere – a mere driver – who managed to become that rich. She should also be angry with Emmerson Mnangagwa who opened up businesses in the DRC after the country had spent so much money to defend the government there.

But the truth is that Grace Mugabe's anger is because she realised that they – herself and Joyce Mujuru – are clashing in business deals. She knows that Joyce Mujuru could be one of the richest people in Zimbabwe. And this has become a competition.

Of course, all along Grace could not do anything to Joyce because she was just a housewife while Joyce Mujuru a vice president. This explains why Grace has not wasted any time digging at Joyce Mujuru after she was given space on the podium.

Ray Kaukonde runs part of the Mujurus business empire. The Amalgamated Motor Corporation (AMC) is just one of those.

Her anger against Kaukonde was partly because as a CIO operative, Ray was once Sally Mugabe's bodyguard and driver. One can safely conclude that when Grace and Robert Mugabe started their illicit affair, Ray should have known about it.

Grace competes with Sally even when the latter is long dead. With Grace's bitchy attitude, anyone and anything to do with Sally is held in disdain. This is why Ray Kaukonde became a target of Grace's unbridled tongue. Why Grace wanted to embarrass Ray Kaukonde before a huge crowd.

Thankfully, Ray Kaukonde gave her the middle finger because only a person who knows a bully's weakness can act the way Ray Kaukonde acted especially now when every stupid and idiotic sucker is doing their best to edge close to Grace for future favours.

Grace is aware of all this. And her anger is not so much that Joyce Mujuru is corrupt, but that she is wealthier than the president's wife.

In this game, Joyce Mujuru has the upper hand. She is not angry like Grace who refused to shake the VP's hand. To me, Joyce gave Grace that hand to tease her.

This is why I find it very difficult to refer to Grace Mugabe as a first lady. There is nothing first lady in her. She is still that typist who looks at the next typist who would have received flowers with envy and anger.

The Imperialists Among us

We must go back to the beginning to find ourselves. Each country has to ask why they struggled for independence. Because as it is now, the paths we have followed seem to be leading us nowhere.
This could probably be because most countries after independence just took off from where the colonisers had left. We took off as if there had not been anything wrong. As if we were just fighting to take over power.
Looking back today, it becomes clear that none of us ever bothered to sit back and ask why people died fighting. Why so many sacrificed so much. The euphoria of being independent and of being led by black men blinded us to real issues that needed to be addressed before embarking on the journeys of rebuilding nations.
Again looking back today, there are no signs of nation building anywhere on the continent. There are no new paths created to bring forth a new African man and woman and child. There was not any new thinking.
Each one of us proceeded along the same path where we did not want to be dragged. And we are here today. Still swearing at 'imperialists'. Here today still blaming the west and Europe. We are here today, still uncertain of the path we want to take because this path we followed blindly has not led us anywhere.
Just take a look. At independence, our leaders emerged from the bushes and moved into state houses that were bastions of oppression. Then they wasted no time in discarding the army fatigues for servile row suits. The next day, they were airborne. All this before sitting down to talk to the people. Ask them what they want.
This should not mean they were not supposed to move into state houses. Or wear suits. Even flying. The problem is that most of them moved swiftly and quickly to assume the role of emperors. While they moved into state houses, nothing was done for those who could not move into such houses. With time, the problems grew until today when we feel and think that this continent is cursed.
Today we still have leaders who drive around the countries they have been ruling for 20 years and still show surprise that informal settlements have grown. That there are still jobless people. That the roads are in bad shape.
Imagine after more than 30 years of failure to deliver, some leaders still make the same promises about jobs, housing, schools, roads and many others. Most of the things they were supposed to have dealt with when they took over power. It's as if every year is a new year.
Most probably the closest we ever came to a leader who was keen to charting a new path, create a new African child was Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso. He stemmed out corruption. One of Africa's biggest threats ever. One of the scourges that will bury Africa if nothing is done.
Show me a president, dead or alive, in power or retired who has not been linked to a corrupt act and I will show you a man who has never been a president.
But Sankara reduced ministers' salaries. High and ridiculous salaries are, like corruption in Africa, another act of selfishness on the part of those who assumed the roles of those whom they had fought.
Sankara's state house was a small brick house. His clothes simple cloth garments made in Burkina Faso. And from cotton grown in Burkina Faso. He rode a bicycle. And the most expensive car he ever drove was a Renault 5.
One of his simple solutions was: Grow your own food.
While today we have people who castigate imperialism while they act and live the life of an imperialist, Sankara once said: “Look at your plates when you eat. These imported grains of rice, corn, and millet – that is imperialism.”
So look at your president when he complains about imperialism today. His watch. Where he goes for holidays. Where his children go for university. Those shiny shoes. That starched shirt. And the cigars, whiskeys, and suits. All imported. Foreign-made.
Ask them why they cannot put in money to grow local food and industries. Create jobs in the process. Ask them why they move around with seven or six cars in an independent country? Cruising around in dark-tinted limousines from imperialist countries.
We may not have self-made cars in Africa but we can afford to choose the cheapest. Cars not for luxury but necessity. But we can grow cotton in Africa. We have tailors in Africa. We can make clothes in Africa. Do all these things and create jobs in the process. And stop exporting jobs to 'imperialist' nations.
Sankara declared once: “Let us consume only what we ourselves control!”
Looking at ourselves today, how much of our lives, economies and governments do we control?
If we continue on this path, we will only create a frustrated, disillusioned, impoverished, angry and hopeless African child.(This article first appeared in The Namibian newspaper of 21 October 2014)

Dearest Caesar Zvayi I write this with a heavy heart

I write this with a heavy heart. Just like I have carried heavy hearts every time something went wrong with you. Like last year when you said you received threatening calls. Like the time when you told me Ian Khama was deporting you. Like those days when I sensed jealousy people trying to pull you down.

But I know, you will not misconstrue my sentiments as anything sinister because we have had this discussion before. 

Like the day I joked about where you will go in the case MDC came into power. Do you recall what you said: That you can become just like Lovemore Madhuku and lecture at the university.

I asked that question not because I am an MDC supporter. You know I am not and will never be. I said it just to tease you.

My point is that the way The Herald has swayed or kilted these days has beaten any other time after Ian Smith's era when there were days the paper would have blanks because stories were deemed politically incorrect.

I have known journalists like the late Philip Magwaza whose political reporting was fictitious at worst and appalling at best. There have been many others who tried their best to rise. I am not worried about your allegiance. That you know very well. Between us, we have discussed it. Laughed at it. But am worried with The Herald under your hand.

After the war in 1980, I saw kangaroo courts carried out by overzealous Zanu-PF chairpersons who called people perceived to have been anti-Zanu-PF to confess. I know people whose bodies were found dumped a few days after they had confessed to having been all sorts of things.

What I am saying is that with Grace Mugabe's unashamed finger-pointing, and The Herald's celebration about it, those fingered are being sacrificed. Our country is a very violent country. Fingering people and accusing them of unproven crimes is very dangerous. But it is extremely dangerous when a national paper carries such claims as if they are true.

Playing such a role in the name of informing the people has proved to be a catalyst for civil war. We have seen this in Rwanda where the media played a biased role and divided tribes resulting in the massacre of the century.

I am referring to Grace's careless talk about Ndebele men being good for nothing; I am referring to Grace's loose talk about Mavambo and MDC having been formed in Joyce Mujuru's house. By so doing, Grace isolated people, exposed them to the winds of violence in Zanu-PF. The people accused and fingered have been marked for anything.

Like I said earlier, that is not my business. What worries me is the role The Herald is playing in all this. Honestly, how can you let a claim go unchallenged? The story where Grace talks about MDC and Mavambo being formed in Mujuru's house, there is no effort to talk to Joyce or Simba Makoni or Morgan Tsvangirai to verify this?

Of course, Mujuru spoke about the salarygate but with concern on why it was being done selectively. And that is fair talk because who does not know that salarygate was just a project to target certain people while defending others?

I mean, how and why did Ignatius Chombo reinstate Tendai Mahachi after The Herald had run stories about salaries at the Harare City Council? Why was there no heated and spirited campaign against Mahachi just as in Cuthbert Dube's case?

I have spoken against corruption, Caesar. And you know where I stand. And am not saying this because I condone rot of any kind.

To make matters worse, most of Grace's stories are one source – her voice only making all sorts of claims! Here my friend, media ethics are on the cross. Why not challenge Grace on her claims? Why not seek responses from those accused? That's one of my biggest problems with this type of journalism.

The other story that still makes me shrink is about analysts urging Joyce Mujuru to resign. How can Chris Mutsvangwa who lambasted the VP be an analyst? He is an interested party. Expecting him to say anything different would be expecting you or me to fall pregnant one day.

Grace made claims. Unsubstantiated ones. Her husband has made such claims before. There is nothing new. Nobody resigned as an honourable thing to do. Permanent secretary George Charamba who was fingered in the PSMAS salaries saga also urged those making corruption allegations to resign, together with him. He was referring to Jonathan Moyo, the man behind the salarygate stories.

Nobody took Charamba's advice. So how in the hell do your analysts think Joyce Mujuru can resign just because Grace has made unsubstantiated claims? In any case, who in the history of Zanu-PF has ever resigned for being rumoured to be corrupt? Of course, Maurice Nyagumbo killed himself. It's not confirmed though that he died to protect a big man whose wife was fingered in the Willowgate Scandal.

Until today, the results of the Sandura Commission which was called to probe the Willowgate Scandal have not been released. Some of those who were fingered in the scandal are all back in Zanu-PF. Frederick Shava is one of those.

So I wonder what Mutsvangwa and those other two fake analysts are saying urging the VP to resign because of mere claims by the president's wife. I am asking you my dearest friend to give me three names of Zanu-PF ministers who resigned voluntarily after corruption allegations were levelled against them. Not even Philip Chiyangwa who was arrested in connection with spying against the government. So if people who were arrested once are still in Zanu-PF, why should the VP resign? Is it because of Grace? What is Grace? Is she the ultimate law now that she can cough and people start running?

In any case, if Zanu-PF had the guts to resign for messing up, there would not be a government today. Especially when there is no water, unreliable electricity, empty hospitals, a bankrupt government, and above all, a bleak future for our children.

Lastly, I don't care what Zanu-PF does or does not do with its people. But I care about our profession. I care when such glaring crucifixions happen.I care about my country.

I know you care.

For our children's sake, we have to act

I strongly believe that a people-driven initiative to call for an end to the suffering in Zimbabwe is the way to go.

By people-driven I mean an effort where there are no donors to decide what agenda such an initiative should take because as it is now, there is one agenda – demand to be ruled well and to have our dignity restored.

This is what every other opposition party has failed to do. The people who came up have proved to be even worse than Zanu-PF and Robert Mugabe in their greedy and thirst for power.

The people should come up and demand in a peaceful manner the right to be respected, to be given all the things they should be given without begging.

This does not need a political party. This does not need money. There is no need for donors. This is a very simple issue of a people fed up with the way they are being treated. A people fed up with being treated like small children. A people yearning to be citizens in their own country.

Like the food riots, the mothers who started demonstrations in 1997 were fed up with the ever rising cost of bread. They were concerned with the future of their children. They wanted a better life for their children.

This too does not need educated people because these are among those who have failed the country. They have lied, cheated and twisted the story of Zimbabwe to suit their own desires.

There is no doubt that we all know what we want. Those simple things that make life easy and enjoyable. Running clean water. Electricity. Funded education. Jobs. An end to corruption. Accountability. A leadership that has the people at heart.

These have been taken away from us for too long. As for the economy, we thought we could do things for ourselves. Indeed, we are doing things for ourselves. Looking after our old parents because there are no social grants. Sending our children to school because the government cannot do it any more. Building our own houses. And trying to be a dignified people.

But this is proving to be difficult. Time has shown that whatever we are doing, we will not get anywhere unless we ask to be ruled like a people.

We have been cowards for too long. Too afraid of the consequences of our actions. We have shied away from our roles as parents. We have given away our children's birthrights to a few thieving families. When the time comes for our children to demand jobs, we will not have any answers.

We have let down the next four generations that will have to pay all the debt being harvested from China.

This is a fight that does not need the US, UK, France or Spain because it has got nothing to do with them. The US should first make the lives of all peoples equal before pretending to be concerned with us. The same with France and the UK.

For our children's sake, we must demand what we are worth now.

Nobody bewitched Mugabe to be old

One of the things which Grace Mugabe said during her tour was that there are people in Zanu-PF who

are saying that her husband – 90-year-old – Robert is old.

She even challenged those whom she accused of saying this to stand side-by-side with Robert and then let the people judge who is older.

Why should this be an issue as if old age is a curse? Robert Mugabe is 90 years old. He was not bewitched by anyone to be 90 years old. And why should it be Grace's concern that people are talking about her husband's age?

It is true that Robert Mugabe is 90. That he is old. Senile. Sickly even. It is a fact that cannot be hidden or defended by any sensible person.

Just why Grace made this one of her anger pressure points surprises. Doesn't she want Robert Mugabe to grow old? Like fighting time?

In any case, it does need anyone to know or say that an old person, especially one in their 90s, are almost there. One can dye their hair. Do all the yoga there is in the world. Have injections pumped into their bodies. Or have facelifts. Age cannot be defeated.

So when a wife rants and raves against those whom she accuses of calling her husband age, there must be something very wrong. One would even think that Grace does not want Robert Mugabe to grow old so that they can stay a bit longer in power.

A man can cheat other people. Lie about other things. One thing man can never cheat and lie about is time. It always catches up with us.

In which case, age and time have caught up with Robert Mugabe. Grace can say whatever she wants. She can have as many tours as she wants. Shout at people as loud as she wants. Call people names anyhow. Her husband's age will not be wilted down to 40 years. It's 90 years and Grace should get used to the fact that Robert Mugabe is old.

Now that the tours are over, Grace is back to stare into Robert Mugabe's old eyes. Those eyes will not get any young. That wrinkled back will not get any smoother. Grace Mugabe should just live with it. Ndiya akazvida saka ngaarege kutinetsa.