Grace Mugabe facing arrest for allegedly grabbing large tracts of land
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Grace Mugabe facing arrest for allegedly grabbing large tracts of land

 First Lady Grace MugabeZimbabwe’s first lady, Grace Mugabe, addresses party supporters at a ZANU PF Rally in Chinhoyi in this Saturday July 29, 2017 photo. Accused of assaulting a woman in a Johannesburg hotel, the wife of Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe, is a fiery character with outsized political ambitions who describes herself as the “mother of the nation” and whose scoldings of top figures in her husband’s government earned her the nickname, “Dr Stop It.” (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Former First Lady Grace Mugabe is facing arrest for allegedly grabbing more than 50 000m2 of prime land in Borrowdale which she distributed to her children and relatives, Zim Morning Post has report.

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Grace is on the radar of the Special Anti-Corruption Unit to answer charges of grabbing land from a property developer and fraudulently acquiring title deeds with the help of former Cabinet minister Ignatius Chombo.

The said land in Carrick Creagh Estates sits on a scenic landscape with rolling hills and valleys overlooking Folyjon and parts of Glen Lorne.

Chombo was last week arrested on charges emanating from his tenure as Minister of Local Government from year 2000 to 2015 including accusations of facilitating the grabbing of residential stands by Grace who gave some of these stands to close family members and other relatives.

Documents seen by this publication show that Grace distributed the developed residential stands to Bona, Russel Goreraza and Robert Mugabe Jnr.

Bona and Robert Jnr were awarded stand numbers 306 measuring 18034m2, stand 307 (25133m2), stand 308 (13733m2) and stand 309 (16774m2).

The Mugabes used two companies, namely Montshow Investments (Pvt) Ltd and Naviline Investments (Pvt) Ltd, to acquire title deeds for the residential stands without the knowledge of the land developer.

Sources close to the development said Grace was helped by Chombo, not only to grab the land in question but also to process the title deeds fraudulently.

“The key person was Chombo who assisted Grace and other Zanu PF members to grab land,” said the source.

Documents also revealed that Grace assisted Junior Shuvai Gumbochuma, her sister, to acquire stand number 228 (12086m2) which she has also not paid for.

Another beneficiary of the land grab is Grace’ son, Russel who used a company called Penking Investments to acquire stand number 99 measuring 7081m2.

“All the cases have since been taken to the High Court under case numbers 5117/20, 5244/20, 5243/20, 5113/20 and 5242/20. The sum total of the land grabbed by Grace and her family is way over 50 000m2 and not even a cent was paid to the developer,” said the source.

The report comes at a time when Chombo has been dragged to court over the land scandals.

Chombo faces several counts of fraud and criminal abuse of office. He denies the charges.

The charges have been extracted from the report by the Land Commission headed by Justice Tendai Uchena.

Chombo denies the charges.

“Allegations have been made that I forced the director of Arosome, Mr. Munawa, to give stands to the former first lady without paying for them. It is further alleged that companies linked to me took title for land that was never paid for, and that I used my powers as minister to get personal benefit from the development. I deny the allegations,” Chombo said when he appeared before the commission.

“The office of the former first lady called, informing me about the former first lady’s intended visit to the Carrick Creagh project. I therefore had to go and meet her there. From the discussions that took place there, it was evident that Mr. Munawa and the former first lady knew each other and the former first lady seemed to know a lot about the developments that were taking place. I was not involved in negotiations to give stands to the first lady. I am also not involved in companies that are said to have been given stands and title deeds without paying,” he added.

The charge are among several charges that Chombo is facing at the Harare Magistrates Court with the state alleging that some of the stands had been allocated to beneficiaries whom Chombo pushed out.-zimmorningpost

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