Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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Power Battle over Mugabe's Body Underscores Struggles for Family

Anita Powell

   HARARE - Weeping, she followed his casket, her footsteps heavy, her
   body draped in black lace.

   In public, Grace Mugabe has been the picture of the dignified, dutiful
   widow since her husband, former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe,
   died earlier this month at the age of 95.

   But behind the scenes lies a tale of personalities, power and politics,
   as salacious details leak out while the government and the Mugabe
   family negotiate with increasing bitterness about the fate of the
   leader's body. It has become a battle of power going well beyond Grace
   Mugabe and her family to reach the highest levels of Zimbabwe's
   complicated struggle for power.

   Derek Matyszak, a Harare-based governance consultant, saicthe fulcrum
   was in 2017, as speculation grew that the ailing leader wanted to
   install his much younger wife in his place. Amid this tension, Mugabe
   -- allegedly under pressure from Grace -- fired his deputy, Emmerson
   Mnangagwa. Three weeks later, Mnangagwa used the military to pressure
   Mugabe to resign.

   Throughout, Matyszak said, it was critical for Mnangagwa to paint the
   power transition as a peaceful, voluntary one. Mugabe himself disputed
   that, calling it an "outright coup" -- words that have hurt Mnangagwa's
   legitimacy.

   But now that Mugabe is dead, Matyszak said, the gloves are off between
   him and Grace Mugabe.

   "She's in a very weakened position from how she was before Mugabe's
   death," Matyszak told VOA. "It was very expedient for Mnangagwa to
   continue to extol Mugabe as a liberation icon. ...So, Mnangagwa has
   been at pains to say that all is well between him and Mugabe, and to
   try and present that face to the world and to the regional leaders. The
   problem has always been, of course, Grace Mugabe, because many people
   believe that it was because of Grace Mugabe that Mnangagwa was fired
   from office by Robert Mugabe. ... But out of deference to Mugabe and
   because of that expediency, Grace was largely left alone."

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