Staff Writer
HARARE, May 4 — Allegations have emerged from divorce court papers seen by the BBC that the daughter of Zimbabwe’s ex-President Robert Mugabe, Bona Mugabe, owned 25 residential properties, including a Dubai mansion, worth a total of around $80m (£64m). The papers were filed by her ex-husband, former pilot Simba Mutsahuni Chikore, who is seeking to split their assets, which he says also include 21 farms.
In addition to the residential properties and farms, the divorce papers also mention luxury vehicles, farming equipment, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash. Some of the 21 farms were allegedly acquired by the Mugabe family during the contentious takeover of white-owned farms in the early 2000s and despite the government’s policy of “one-man one-farm”.
Mr Chikore claims that the assets were acquired solely and jointly during their marriage, through inheritance and donations from the late president for work carried out on his behalf. He adds that the assets he has listed are only a fraction of the wealth Ms Mugabe owns outright.
A source close to the Mugabe family told the BBC that the former president had nothing in his name when he died, although he received £10m from the state as part of his pension. The source also questioned whether Bona Mugabe owned all the assets listed by her former partner.
Zimbabweans have reacted with shock and outrage to the extent of the wealth allegedly accumulated by just one of Mr Mugabe’s children. It is unclear when the divorce case, which is being heard in the capital city of Harare, will end.
George Charamba, who was Mr Mugabe’s spokesman and now serves in President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s office, denied that the couple owned 21 farms. He tweeted that all agricultural land in Zimbabwe belongs to the state, with farmers using it on a lease basis. He added that no one should “build any politics or arguments around the so-called 21 farms allegedly owned by Cde Bona and her estranged hubby.”
Ms Mugabe and Mr. Chikore were married in 2014 in a lavish wedding that was attended by several African heads of state and was broadcast live on state television. Mr. Mugabe died in 2019 at the age of 95, reportedly without leaving a will. He is survived by his wife Grace, Bona, two sons, and a stepson.
Source: BBC News
