Zimbabwe elections: Ahead of polls opening, the Mugabes' influence is still felt

In Harare, Kim Sengupta finds that eight months after he was deposed from power, Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace still hold sway

Last year’s coup should have seen the disappearance of the 94-year-old former president and ‘Gucci Grace’ (Reuters)

Three days after a grenade attack on President Emmerson Mnangagwa – a truly explosive start to the campaign for Zimbabwe’s historic elections – a photograph went viral on social media of Grace Mugabe, flashing a V for victory sign.

Robert Mugabe’s wife was celebrating, her critics claim, the assassination attempt which had come so close to eliminating the man who had replaced her husband in power, and who thwarted her ambition of succeeding him as leader of the country.

The fall of Mr Mugabe last year in a coup, a fascinating drama played out in front of the international media, should have been seen the disappearance of Africa’s longest serving head of state and his wife, pilloried as “Disgrace” or “Gucci Grace” by her many enemies who accuse her of greed and corruption on an industrial scale.

Some even believed that the couple may have experienced the grim end, execution, suffered by Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu in Romania in 1989.

But eight months on from that tumultuous time, the Mugabes are very much around: largely out of sight, but certainly not out of mind.

They are not under arrest and have the leeway to travel in and out of the country. The photo of Grace making the gesture was allegedly taken in Singapore, where her husband had gone for medical treatment.

The Zimbabwean government picked up the bill, part of Mr Mugabe’s agreed healthcare package for leaving the presidency.

The 94-year-old former president and his wife, who is 41 years younger, take their flights from the Robert Mugabe International in Harare. There are no plans to change the name of the airport.

They continue to live at their 25-room mansion, Blue House, as before, where visiting foreign dignitaries have been dropping in to meet Mr Mugabe frequently enough for it to make the news when the Elders, the international group of former public figures led by Kofi Annan, failed to meet the former president and his wife during a visit this month.

There is little doubt that the Mugabes still retain a degree of influence as the country goes to the polls on 30 July: the first to take place in 38 years without Mr Mugabe in power.

In parts of the country, people are holding rallies wearing T-shirts with his picture and carrying banners with his name, and there are calls from loyalists for him to return from his internal political exile.

A new political group, the National Patriotic Front (NPF), was formed in March by Mugabe supporters in the ruling Zanu-PF party with the former president’s backing.

It is now taking part in the campaign, fielding a hundred candidates, and has backed an opposition alliance led by the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change), although talks to formally join did not come to fruition.

The MDC leader Nelson Chamisa, who is running close to Mr Mnangagwa in the opinion polls, was once hospitalised with a fractured skull by security agents of the Mugabe regime.

The Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Harare (AP)

He is not, however, averse to receiving support from the unexpected quarter.

While denying claims of getting money from the Mugabes, and stressing that there is no formal agreement with the NPF, he has declared: “We welcome every vote; Mugabe, we welcome your vote. We want a new dispensation, a fresh start.”

Mr Chamisa has also dismissed rumours that Grace Mugabe or other former members of the Mugabe government may be part of an administration if he were to win the election. But there was ambiguity in the denial.

“Whoever wants to join us is welcome, our bus doesn’t get full but there is no way one can join a church and become a deacon the same day,” he told a recent rally.

Some of the Mugabe influence is allegedly violent and dangerous. A group known as “Generation 40” or “G 40”, part of the NPF – who had hitched their stars to Grace’s ascent – have been blamed for the grenade attack in Bulawayo a month ago targeting President Mnangagwa, which killed two people and injured more than 40 others.

No evidence has been produced so far to back the claim made by Mr Mnangagwa and government officials (among others) of an alleged link between “G 40” and the Mugabes. A number of people were arrested after the attack; some have been freed.

There have been raids and detentions, however, of former senior officials close to the Mugabes in other prosecutions.

Those being held include Tadzingaira Tachiveyi, a deputy director of the country’s security agency, Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) who was sacked from his post following Robert Mugabe’s removal.

A former Mugabe cabinet minister, Samuel Undenge, is now in jail following corruption convictions. The former finance minister, Ignatius Chombo, is currently on trial, also for alleged corruption.

An attempt earlier this month to detain another former minister, Saviour Kasukuwere, failed because he was in South Africa.

The bitter rivalry between Grace Mugabe and Mr Mnangagwa, known as the “Crocodile” for his supposed guile, was one if the key factors behind what happened last November.

His sacking from the government by President Mugabe was widely believed to be at the instigation of Grace, who had declared at one point that the “crocodile has turned into snake and must be hit on the head”.

Mr Mnangagwa fled to South Africa after receiving death threats, with Grace expected to take over his post of vice-president.

But he struck back in conjunction with the head of the army, General Constantino Chiwenga, to carry out the putsch which overthrew the president.

Mr Mugabe refused to go into exile and remains in Zimbabwe under a deal which granted him – and supposedly his wife – immunity from prosecution.

One of the conditions, claim government officials, is that the former president does not get involved in politics. But many of his supporters believe that the time has come for the former president to make his presence felt.

At Mr Mugabe’s hometown of Chinhoyi, 120km northwest of Harare, Solomon Zivai spoke of the anger over the president’s removal.

“What they did to him was completely illegal, it was against the constitution – that is very clear,” said the 58-year-old, who owns several shops.

“They are keeping him away from politics, but we need him to unify the people, working behind the scenes if necessary.

“Of course he is old, but this is not Europe or America, here we believe that old people have wisdom which should not be wasted, especially someone like him who sacrificed so much to get us our independence.”

Zanu-PF held a rally recently with Mr Mnangagwa at Chinhoyi. The president was careful not to criticise Mr Mugabe directly, as he has throughout the campaign.

But the view of Truelove Kudakwashe, a lifelong Zanu-PF supporter, and his companions was: “The crocodile is not wanted here, he had worked with Robert Mugabe and then turned against him.

“Mnangagwa says he is improving the economy by getting in foreign investments, but is doing nothing for the ordinary people of Zimbabwe. I would not vote for Zanu-PF this time. I would have voted for Robert Mugabe.

“As for Grace, I was not a supporter, but she had good backing from some in the party, you cannot deny that. Most of all, you cannot just get rid of someone like Robert Mugabe so easily.”