As dusk turned to dark in Zimbabwe last Tuesday, a convoy of three vehicles drove fast towards Harare, the capital, entering the city from the north.
Much of the road was in poor condition, but it is unlikely the woman in the second of the three cars felt much discomfort. Grace Mugabe, the wife of the president, Robert Mugabe, was riding in a $250,000 Mercedes Maybach equipped with suspension designed to carry occupants smoothly across holes substantially larger than even the ruts of most roads in the impoverished country her husband had ruled for 37 years.
The 52-year-old former secretary was returning from a function in Mazowe, 25 miles to the north-east of Harare, where she owns land and has founded an orphanage and a school. Her destination was the sprawling mansion – known as the Blue Roof for its expensive exterior décor – where she lived with her husband.
For months, a no-holds-barred factional battle over the succession to the ailing president had split the ruling Zanu-PF party. It pitted the G40, a group of younger politicians coalesced around the first lady, against supporters of Emmerson Mnangagwa, the party veteran appointed vice-president three years ago and nicknamed “the Crocodile”, who were dubbed “Team Lacoste”.
With 93-year-old Robert Mugabe’s infirmity increasingly obvious in recent months, the struggle intensified. On 6 November the G40 landed what looked like a knockout blow on the Crocodile, convincing the president to fire him.
Stripped of office, the former vice-president fled, driving with a group of family members including his adult son, Emmerson Jr, to the Forbes border post on Zimbabwe’s eastern frontier. Having crossed into neighbouring Mozambique – it is unclear exactly how – Mnangagwa flew in a private jet to South Africa.
The flight of her arch-rival should have been a triumph for the first lady. Instead, it led directly to her downfall and that of her husband. Mnangagwa and powerful supporters in both the Zimbabwean Defence Forces (ZDF) and organisations representing the country’s war veterans had a plan for just such an eventuality and, after consultations in South Africa, launched a military takeover designed to thwart Grace Mugabe and make the Crocodile president. Just over a week after Mnangagwa’s flight, armoured vehicles drove into Harare’s centre.
Arriving at the Blue Roof on her return from Mazowe shortly after 9pm, the first lady immediately summoned Albert Ngulube, the head of the president’s security detail, according to an official who was present. As she had driven through the capital, Grace Mugabe had seen troops on the streets, and she told Ngulube to find out what was happening. The president, who had spent the afternoon in a cabinet meeting, had gone to sleep an hour earlier, and no one wanted to wake him.
At around 10pm, Ngulube, still unclear what was happening, decided to go to his office at the main civilian intelligence agency, the CIO, where he would be better placed, if necessary, to start rallying loyalists. He did not reach his destination, running into an army patrol, which detained him. When at 10.30pm Grace Mugabe attempted to reach Ngulube, the identification of the caller – “first lady” – on his confiscated phone enraged the soldiers holding him. They beat him so savagely that, but for the intervention of a military intelligence officer, Ngulube might have become the first casualty of the otherwise bloodless takeover.
Elsewhere in the city, the army was trying to round up those on a list of 24 people drawn up by senior military intelligence personnel close to General Constantino Chiwenga, the army commander, and circulated to a small number of key officers.
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One of the most prominent names was that of Jonathan Moyo, 60, an ambitious politician who had been in and out of favour with Mugabe but remained close to Grace. Moyo was tipped off about the army operation to catch him, a friend said, and fled with his family to the sprawling mansion of an ally, Saviour Kasukuwere, another minister. Rapidly realising that neither were safe there, the two men, their wives and several children moved on again, still one step ahead of the soldiers, to the Blue Roof, arriving at around 11pm.
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The soldiers picked up Kudzanayi Chipanga, head of the Zanu-PF youth league, who had held a press conference hours earlier to tell the army to stay out of politics.
The detention of Ignatius Chombo, the finance minister, went less smoothly, with an exchange of fire at his residence. But by the early morning, most of those on the army’s list had been accounted for.
A senior ruling party official said the Mugabes’ spendthrift sons – 19-year-old Robert Jr and Bellarmine, 25 – were also sought, but had left Harare on Tuesday morning unbeknown to the armed forces.
A senior military officer denied this, saying the two men – detested by Zimbabweans for their ostentatious nightclubbing and shopping – were in Johannesburg all the time. “We knew they were in South Africa. They weren’t on any lists,” he said.
The troops also moved to secure the state broadcasting network, arriving at around 11.30pm. An employee present when they arrived said the troops were “forceful”. “They roughed a few people up and then told us to just play music. Then they told most of us to go home,” he said.
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By that time, the military had also reached the Blue Roof. Accounts differ as to what happened over the next hours, though all sources agree there was no resistance from the presidential guard. One military official said the troops sealed off the building but waited outside until 5am, when a general appeared on the national TV network and told the nation the army had taken power.
Grace Mugabe was “told to stay in the kitchen and not involve herself with anything that was going on”, said a military officer who debriefed soldiers involved in the operation. Contrary to some reports, none were more senior than the rank of colonel.
The president learned of the new situation when he woke shortly afterwards. He was stunned, the officer said. Six days later, after extensive negotiations, he would resign.
On Wednesday this week, Mnangagwa gave his first speech as “president in waiting” at the towering Zanu-PF headquarters in central Harare. Speaking in English, he was conciliatory, calling on “Zimbabwean patriots” to unite to rebuild the country. But speaking in the local language of Shona he had a different, more uncompromising message.
As he reached the end of the address, Mnangagwa referred to a threat made by Grace Mugabe at one of her own rallies a month ago. The first lady had told the crowd that “a snake is better dealt with by crushing the head” and that Mnangagwa’s “head must be crushed”. Now the tables were turned.
“There have been a lot of tall claims made about crushing snakes’ heads,” Manangwa told the cheering crowd. “But which snake are we talking about now?”
Zanu-PF officials have said Grace Mugabe has been granted immunity from prosecution and will be allowed to live in Zimbabwe with “all the privileges due to the spouse of a former president”. For the moment, she remains under military guard in the Blue Roof.
Additional reporting by Mandla Dube in Harare
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