Zimbabwe First Lady spurns Court Order

Robert Mugabe

Zimbabwe’s first lady Grace Mugabe, is defying a court order to leave three properties she seized from a Lebanese businessman in a dispute of 1.35- million-dollar diamond ring, the businessman’s lawyer said on Thursday.

Mugabe seized Ahmed Jamal’s properties after he failed to reimburse the cost of the ring, which was due to be President Robert  Mugabe’s gift to her on their 20th wedding anniversary in 2016.

For unknown reasons, she refused to accept the ring on delivery, and sought to get the money back. A judge had in December 2016 ordered her to leave Jamal’s properties within 24 hours.

“She has not made a step in complying with the provisional order issued by Justice Clement Phiri. We have since advised the deputy sheriff to have her evicted from the properties in line with the court’s directive,’’ she added.

There has been no comment from her, who is currently accompanying her husband to China on a month-long vacation.

Jamal has argued that he has not yet had time to reimburse the price of the diamond ring, because he was using a third party for the transaction.

The 51-year-old first lady has been tipped as successor to her 92-year-old husband, who has ruled the southern African country since 1980.

Mugabe has, however, announced that he will still be a candidate in the 2018 elections.

The couple has been accused of lavish spending in the country where 80 per cent of the workforce is estimated to be unemployed, and which has seen months of protests against Mugabe.