First Lady Grace Mugabe is furious over her husband’s fall and is reported to have caused the suspension of bodyguards now blamed for Mugabe’s sudden disgrace last Wednesday.
A worried First Lady, Grace Mugabe, is said to be apoplectic about the alleged poor planning and response by President Robert Mugabe’s aides when the nonagenarian fell at the Harare International Airport last Wednesday.
Sources told the Daily News on Sunday yesterday that so angry was Grace — whom Mugabe has said is recuperating from a minor operation in Singapore — that she had allegedly demanded the heads of all the implicated people to roll, including those of some security details.
“She was raving mad when she heard of the incident and felt that his aides and security team were negligent in this unfortunate issue. “As any spouse would do, she is clearly fearful that things could have turned really nasty on the day given the president’s age and state of health, and is thus keen to see that this is never repeated.
“This is one of the reasons why petrified government officials and State media have gone into overdrive to try and play down the incident, and to abuse anyone who has shone a negative spotlight on the incident,” one of the sources said.
Another source claimed that Grace’s anger emanated from the fact that Mugabe’s aides had seemingly not planned the airport rally and podium arrangements well, as well as the fact that security details had allegedly taken too long to react to the nonagenarian’s fall.
“She is angry because President Mugabe’s staff knew very well that he has difficulty walking, especially climbing and walking down steps, but did not appear to have factored this in at the airport.
“And when he tumbled over, the security team appears to have been taken unawares, which calls into question their alertness,” the second source said.
The increasingly frail Mugabe fell after he had just finished addressing his supporters after returning from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he took over the rotating ceremonial chairmanship of the African Union.
Although he appeared unhurt after the nasty incident — which occurred in full view of gathered bigwigs, Zanu PF rank and file members and journalists — it triggered visible panic among senior government officials and security chiefs, who all scrambled to try and help him get on his feet and to ensure that he was alright.
It apparently did not also assist Grace’s mood that photographs and video evidence of the fall had leaked on the Internet almost immediately after the incident, and despite
assurances that the secret service had confiscated and destroyed all images that had been captured by the private media.
This had created suspicions about the source of the images and whether State media or Zanu PF officials and members had been complicit in the damaging leaks that made global news.
Aggressive security personnel moved promptly to force gathered photojournalists, including a crew from the Daily News and the Daily News on Sunday, to delete their prized pictures of the fall.
“There is a witch hunt as we speak to sniff out the sources of the leaks, amid reports that Amai wants those responsible to be severely punished.
“You must remember how allergic she is to these kinds of intrusions as exemplified by her negative reaction to a pesky photographer in the Far East a few years ago,” another source said.
It is understood that the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) is now conducting an internal review to determine the facts around the president’s fall, although it is not known when this is expected to be completed — with the results expected to guide any security adjustments and personnel actions that may be necessary to ensure the health and safety of the First Family.
Meanwhile, other sources claim that there are efforts to get respected former African heads of States such as Thabo Mbeki and ailing former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda to persuade Grace — the self-evident power behind the throne — to let Mugabe retire owing to his failing health and advanced age.
“It’s Grace who holds the cards and has the final decision if Mugabe is to retire, but no one is very optimistic given Grace’s behaviour,” one of the sources said. daily news