{UAH} Is 'Gucci Grace' the Next President of Zimbabwe? | Str8Talk Chronicle

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Is 'Gucci Grace' the Next President of Zimbabwe? | Str8Talk Chronicle

By JAKE FLANAGIN, The New York Times, 2014-10-07

Grace Mugabe

With Grace Mugabe, the world may have it's first woman dictator in modern history. The Zimbabwean political class is abuzz with rumors that Mrs. Mugabe, the second wife of President Robert Mugabe, may succeed her husband as leader of the southern African nation following news of her appointment to the secretariat of the Women's League for Zanu-PF, the country's ruling party, according to South Africa's Mail and Guardian. Mr. Mugabe, now 90, is the oldest sitting head of state on the African continent and is reportedly casting about for trustworthy political heirs.

Mrs. Mugabe's rapid bureaucratic ascent, combined with little to no political experience, has given Andrew Harding, the BBC's Africa correspondent, pause to consider the possibility of an emerging Mugabe dynasty. "The birth of a dynasty is not an easy thing to predict," he writes. "But many Zimbabweans now seem preoccupied by the tantalizing possibility that the Mugabes are seeking to join the list — admittedly a shrinking list — of families who have managed to pass the reins of power across the dinner table."

Known as "personalistic regimes," in political-science jargon, these are nominally republican structures that, in reality, operate more like lineal absolute monarchies. Cuba's Castros, Syria's Assads and, of course, North Korea's Kims are examples.

Mrs. Mugabe's political trajectory began in the president's secretarial typing pool. In the early 1990s, as Mr. Mugabe's first wife, the much-beloved Sally Hayfron Mugabe (a.k.a., "the Mother of Zimbabwe") lay dying from kidney failure, she became his mistress. They married in 1996 — four years after the death of the first Mrs. Mugabe — in an elaborate ceremony called "wedding of the century" by the Zimbabwean press.

Since then, Mrs. Mugabe and the president have had two children, and she has taken up the mantle of "First Shopper," a comment on her extravagant tastes and spending, reminiscent of another infamous first lady.

Also known as "Gucci Grace" and "Dis Grace," Mrs. Mugabe is a divisive, albeit highly visible figure in her home country. She made headlines in 2009 for physically assaulting a Times of London photographer while on a shopping spree in Hong Kong. "She was completely deranged, absolutely raging with anger," the photographer told The Mail and Guardian, his face badly cut and bruised thanks to Mrs. Mugabe's numerous diamond rings.

She has also earned the scorn of Zimbabwe's scholarly community. In September, she received a Ph.D. from the faculty of social studies at the University of Zimbabwe. Doctorates there can take anywhere from three to six years to complete, but Mrs. Mugabe earned hers in under two months. "What is clear though is that her degree seems to be more of a product of patronage than academic excellence," writes Godwell Gwavava for The Zimbabwe Independent. "What was the basis of her admission? When did she register? How long did she take to finish her Ph.D.? Who was her supervisor? Before whom did she defend her thesis? Did she ever write or publish anything in academic journals for peer review? Can she now stand up and honestly call herself a scholar?"

The conferral is yet another casualty in the Mugabe regime's seemingly endless assault on Zimbabwean stability, says Farai Nyamuzihwa, a journalist with Nehanda Radio, an online news channel maintained by pro-democracy exiles. "Degrees are not bought but are earned after research and hard work," he writes. "This is not taking Zimbabwe anywhere. It simply helps to portray to the world just how things have become. Education has been inflated. The economy has been destroyed and ethics have been eroded."

Though the ease with which Mrs. Mugabe attains her academic accolades may not signal a guaranteed presidency. "Grace is not ready to manage the Zanu kind of politics and will never be the state president in her lifetime," said Priscilla Misihairabwi Mushonga, a member of Zimbabwe's Parliament, in an interview with The Zimbabwean. Ms. Mushonga believes Mr. Mugabe will pass the reigns to Joice Mujuru, the current vice president of Zimbabwe, as he "rarely shifts positions," and "since he chose Mujuru as vice president it is unlikely that he has changed his mind." Furthermore, Ms. Mujuru recently came out on top in recent (disputed) Zanu-PF Youth Wing elections, and had she fallen out of favor with the president, the results would have undoubtedly been "put on ice."

Other observers share Ms. Mushonga's doubts, though with more cynical reasoning. "To me, Grace is just a pawn," said Vince Musewe, a Zimbabwean political commentator, speaking with The Guardian. "There's no way she's going to be anything after Mugabe dies."

Despite her impressive résumé, "she's not educated," Mr. Musewe declared. "She does not even know women's issues. She is part of the elite and there's absolutely no way the security guys can accept her being president. She doesn't have the gravitas to lead Zimbabwe."

"I really think this is a sideshow," he said. The Guardian further speculates that Mrs. Mugabe is simply a temporary "weapon" meant to "derail the presidential ambitions" of Vice President Mujuru, "who is locked in a power struggle with justice minister Emmerson Mnangagwa." In the same piece, Nelson Chamisa, organizing secretary of the Movement for Democratic Change, Zimbabwe's lead opposition party, said, "If I look at the chances of her becoming president, I would find it easier to impregnant a man, or change Europe to Africa, or Africa to Europe."

But such spousal successions have major precedent. As Zack Mushawata notes for All Africa, Mrs. Mugabe's "involvement in Zanu-PF's succession matrix is increasingly beginning to mirror that of her counterpart from a different time and continent — Jiang Qing, Mao Zedong's last wife and China's former first lady."

Jiang, also a onetime secretary, "emerged as an important player on the field of political scheming when she formed a powerful faction that controlled most aspects of government in China during Mao's later years called the Gang of Four," Mr. Mushawata writes. "After Mao's death she was arguably one of the most important players in an internecine battle of succession politics that eventually led to her imprisonment."

Though he admits Mrs. Mugabe "may not be as powerful as Jiang was," her clout is not to be underestimated, Mr. Mushawata says: "It cannot be argued that her entrance on the stage of politics has shifted power dynamics in the ruling party in a very significant way." But perhaps such a shift would spell the end for the House of Mugabe.

The rise of Grace Mugabe "shows that President Mugabe doesn't trust anyone around him," said Dewa Mahvinga, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, speaking with Andrew Harding. "I think he was under pressure to control the factions and extend his own stay in office, but it was a major miscalculation and exposed him for the first time if you see how the factions are now fighting openly in the media."

Is 'Gucci Grace' the Next President of Zimbabwe? | Str8Talk Chronicle

http://str8talkchronicles.com/is-gucci-grace-the-next-president-of-zimbabwe

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