APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) A divorce case involving the daughter of late Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe has exposed the obscene wealth of the former first family – amassed through legal or illegal means during the ex-strongman’s 37-year reign over the impoverished southern African country.
The divorce papers show that Bona Mugabe and her estranged husband Simba Chikore owned properties worth millions of dollars in Zimbabwe and Dubai.
The couple, which was married in 2014 at a lavish ceremony attended by several African leaders, is fighting over control of 21 farms, more than 25 upmarket Harare residential properties, cash, plus companies and movable properties worth millions of US dollars.
The list of properties exposes the hypocrisy of the Zimbabwe government’s land reform programme under which the Harare authorities violently grabbed from former white commercial farmers under the guise that no one should have more than one farm.
On the contrary, Bona Mugabe and her husband owned 21 farms covering more than 24,500 hectares of land.
The Dubai mansion is valued at more than US$8 million.
The couple is also fighting over vehicles and farm equipment, according to the court papers.
A former pilot, Chikore claimed he acquired some of the properties from his father-in-law.
“He contributed through earnings and donations from his father-in-law for work, jobs and special assignments done on behalf of his father-in-law,” the court papers read.
Bona Mugabe wants the marriage cancelled, claiming that the union has irretrievably broken down. The husband, on the other hand, claimed the marriage could be rescued with counselling.
JN/APA