Grace Mugabe, the wife of longtime Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe, has announced that she intends to succeed her 90-year-old husband who has ruled over the country for thirty-four years.
Some of Mugabe’s critics sarcastically refer to the First Lady as “Gucci Grace” or “The First Shopper,” accusing her of living a lavish lifestyle while the majority of the country lives in abject poverty. The George W. Bush White House specifically mentioned the Zimbabwean First Lady when the former President signed executive action to sanction “Property Of Persons Undermining Democratic Processes Or Institutions in Zimbabwe.”
Joice Mujuru, who serves as Vice-President of Zimbabwe, has of recent clashed with the First Lady, dismissing her as on the VP’s Facebook page. She wrote on Thursday: “I fight in the legions of legions of legions of great men. I do not fight with women. I fight in legions. I don’t fight shebeen and bedtime bedroom stories. Copy and paste that.”
On Thursday, the First Lady accused Mujuru of plotting to overthrow her husband. She said, “Why do you want to remove Mugabe by force? This is a coup which they are planning.”
Grace Mugabe was in the news in September when she obtained a Ph.D after having enrolled just three months prior at the University of Zimbabwe.