Zimbabwe’s former first lady Grace Mugabe - known by detractors as “Gucci Grace” or the “first shopper” for her love of designer clothes and Ferragamo heels - has been unusually quiet since her husband was detained by the military last week.
Other news sites say that while the deposed dictator might be allowed to leave Zimbabwe after finally resigning the presidency on Tuesday, military rulers had demanded his wife stay in order to face trial. According to The Independent, it “unlikely” that either will stand trial.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Daily Telegraph, meanwhile, reports that both husband and wife are remaining in Zimbabwe “under a deal with the ruling party that will see them retreat from politics in exchange for secure retirement”.
According to CNN, senior military officers have agreed a deal including “immunity and a guarantee of safety for the former leader and his wife”.
The belief that Grace Mugabe was being lined up as Zimbabwe’s next president is thought to be one of the primary reasons for the coup, says The Washington Post. Now former vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa will be sworn in instead, on Friday.
The Times of South Africa says that Robert Mugabe’s decision to stand down, rather than be impeached, means he will retain his post-presidency pension. Accordingly, “Mugabe will earn the same amount of money earned by the sitting president” - estimated at US$12,000 (£9,000) per month.
“When he dies, his widow will earn two-thirds of the pension”, the newspaper says, so Grace Mugabe will be “sitting pretty”, receiving “state-sponsored domestic help, air travel, office accommodation and an entertainment allowance”.
-
Alaa Abd el-Fattah: should Egyptian dissident be stripped of UK citizenship?Today's Big Question Resurfaced social media posts appear to show the democracy activist calling for the killing of Zionists and police
-
Biggest political break-ups and make-ups of 2025The Explainer From Trump and Musk to the UK and the EU, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a round-up of the year’s relationship drama
-
Why 2025 was a pivotal year for AITalking Point The ‘hype’ and ‘hopes’ around artificial intelligence are ‘like nothing the world has seen before’
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
-
Brazil’s Bolsonaro behind bars after appeals run outSpeed Read He will serve 27 years in prison
-
Americans traveling abroad face renewed criticism in the Trump eraThe Explainer Some of Trump’s behavior has Americans being questioned
-
Nigeria confused by Trump invasion threatSpeed Read Trump has claimed the country is persecuting Christians
-
Sanae Takaichi: Japan’s Iron Lady set to be the country’s first woman prime ministerIn the Spotlight Takaichi is a member of Japan’s conservative, nationalist Liberal Democratic Party
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of TaiwanIn the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdownIN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
