Grace Mugabe (Nee Marufu)

First Lady of Zimbabwe; Second Wife of Robert Mugabe

Date of Birth: 23/07/1964
Place of Birth: South Africa

Commentary: Grace Mugabe came into the limelight in 1996 when she officially married President Robert Mugabe, four years after the death of his first wife, Sally. Grace already had two children with Mugabe: Bona, named after Mugabe’s mother, and Robert Junior. She has an elder son from a previous marriage to Stanley Goreraza, an air force pilot who, reports say, was forced out of the country after Grace entered into an extra-marital affair with Mugabe. Grace is best known for her extravagance, her overseas shopping trips and her appetite for mansions. Many people though she was trying to outdo Princess Diana by buying glamorous outfits, some of which did not seem appropriate for the African climate. She also built mansions in Zvimba, Mugabe’s rural home, ostensibly because she did not want to live in another mansion that Mugabe had built for Sally; at Chivhu, her hometown; and in Harare. She is reported to have several farms in the country and properties in Malaysia and Hong Kong, where she made news after assaulting a British journalist.

Her extravagance did not go down well with Zimbabweans as she went on spending sprees at the very time the country’s economy was on a unprecedented economic slide. She became variously known as the “First Shopper” or “Dis Grace”. Some people even blamed her for forcing Mugabe to remain in power so that she could enjoy her overseas shopping trips.

Grace is 34 years younger than Mugabe. There have been whispers that she was involved in extra marital affairs with younger, rich and flamboyant business men some of whom were killed or forced to flee the country. Though she entered into politics in 2008, after Mugabe was beaten in the first round of the presidential elections by Morgan Tsvangirai, she does not seem to have the political clout that Sally had.