Zimbabwe’s Harare – This week, it was revealed that Bona Mugabe, the sole child of Robert Mugabe, the first president of Zimbabwe, owns a large amount of land in upscale neighborhoods in the country’s capital Harare, 21 farms, a $8 million mansion in Dubai, and a collection of high-end vehicles. plus more.
Outrage has been expressed in the nation of Southern Africa over the assets, which have been mentioned in the ongoing divorce procedures between the younger Mugabe and her former airline pilot husband Simba Chikore.
Nine years have passed since Mugabe, 33, and Chikore, 46, became spouses. Mugabe, though, filed for the annulment of their marriage early this year, alleging irreconcilable differences.
Should the Harare court allow the motion, Chikore, who is appealing the divorce, maintains that he is entitled to joint custody of the couple’s three children and a portion of the assets they collectively acquired.
The long-running Zimbabwean ruler’s family has amassed enormous fortune, as revealed by the contentious divorce. According to court documents obtained by Al Jazeera, the former president’s family owns a $80 million real estate portfolio.
Chikore also identified multiple vehicles as belonging to the family, including three Range Rovers and a $800,000 Rolls Royce. Fungai Chimwamurombe, Bona’s attorney, provided the press with written confirmation of the properties’ veracity.
This week, Zimbabweans vented their rage on social media in response to the shocking information about the wealth of the Mugabe family.
According to news report from sources, one Facebook user, Gideon Baba Tyler Mtetwa, wrote, “This is how dirty Mugabe was. Just a tip of the iceberg. Imagine what his other kids and himself own, his uncles, aunts, rats, dogs and friends,”
Musa Kika, a lawyer and executive director of the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, said Chikore’s claims, if proven to be “accurate and true”, would suggest unconstitutional distribution of wealth “on account of proximity to political power”.
“If proven to be true and accurate, this goes against the spirit of our Constitution. Our Constitution requires equitable distribution of the finite resource of land and expressly states in section 293(2) that ‘the State may not alienate more than one piece of agricultural land to the same person and his or her dependants’,” Kika . According to him, the term “alienate” includes both leasing and selling of land.
