Grace Mugabe chickens out of Matebeleland South rally




Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's wife Grace greets supporters at a rally in Lupane about 170 Kilometres north of Bulawayo, Friday, July, 21, 2017. Mugabe's rally is his first since his return from a routine medical review in Singapore. The worlds oldest leader has launched a series of rallies targeting the youth ahead of Presidential elections set for 2018(AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)
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First Lady Grace Mugabe did not attend the youth rally in Matebeleland South today, hardly two weeks after she raffled feathers with senior party officials including Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa, and her husband’s spokesman George Charamba.

According to President Robert Mugabe, the First Lady is in South Africa to have her foot examined following a freak accident at the Harare international airport a few weeks ago.

Her two sons are in South Africa where they are allegedly leading a lavish lifestyle.

The First Lady’s remarks at the Chinhoyi youth rally are said to have upset a lot of senior ZANU-PF officials and are reported to have sparked the clashes between the army and the police though officially they are said to have erupted after police spiked a car belonging to a military official.

Whispers, however, say the military was trying to show the police chief Augustine Chihuri that it called the shots. Chihuri reportedly belongs to the G40 faction that backs the First Lady.

Zimbabwe’s war veterans who side with the military bluntly told the First Lady to control her children first before she can think of publicly reprimanding senior party officials.

Last year, war veterans told Mugabe to rein-in his wife and protested that there should be no slogan honouring anyone else other than Mugabe.

This was after the slogan “kusina mai hakuendwe” became the call sign  at rallies she addressed.

The First Lady used the slogan at the Chinhoyi rally and said she was the mother of the nation and the third assistant of President Mugabe- together with the two Vice-Presidents.