Paul Nyathi|As the fallout resulting from the burial of former President Robert Mugabe at his rural home village continues, his widow Grace has been accused of grabbing a project donated to the country by the Chinese and personalising it.
According to the Zim Morning Post, Grace allegedly grabbed the US$7 million Mazowe Orphanage project which had been donated by the Chinese and turned it, into her own despite the fact that the project had been donated to the country of Zimbabwe. Grace was only supposed to be the patron of the project and not the owner. However, Grace is alleged to have grabbed the project which was meant to cater for orphans and turned it into her own sumptuous state of the art private schools.
A source close to President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government who spoke to the Zim Morning Post said,
“This project is the same project with the Defence College of Zimbabwe where the National Army was brought in this deal as an implementing partner and after its completion, it was handed over to Government that is what Grace was supposed to do.”
However, when reached for comment, the government insisted that all questions regarding the issue will be better answered by the police and the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC).
Deputy Information minister Energy Mutodi distanced Mnangagwa’s government from the matter saying,
“This is just grapevine, the executive does not investigate anyone rather this is done by the police and the anti-corruption commission
“It is from these institutions that you can get an indication if an investigation has been opened against Grace Mugabe.
“Government is not a law unto itself. The law operates separately through institutions mandated to administer it.”
The Mnangagwa government has been accused of allegedly targeting Grace Mugabe because she refused to give in to their demands for Robert Mugabe to be buried at the National Heroes Acre. Just days after the burial of Mugabe at his home village in Zvimba, the Mnangagwa government was accused of unleashing gold panners at the Mugabe family’s farms in Mazowe.
Source: Zim Morning Post