10 of Grace Mugabe’s most outlandish quotes

In recent years the world has become used to Zimbabwean first lady Grace Mugabe taking a more central role in the running of the country.

Gucci Grace as she has become known in Zimbabwe seemed to have accepted some private challenge from her husband Robert to see who could say the weirdest things.

This week started off pretty good for the Mugabe family, it looked for all the world as if Grace would be appointed the next vice president of the ruling Zanu-PF party and by extension the VP of Zimbabwe.

By the middle of the week, things had gone badly pear-shaped. Robert is probably going to resign and Grace well no one knows for sure where in the world she is.

Briefly.co.za learned from Thesouthafrican.com that although Grace is MIA right now it would be foolish to underestimate her. With that in mind, we look at 10 of the most outlandish/weird/crazy things she has said which look funny after the events of this week.

1. “If God decides to take him, then we will field him as a corpse in the election.”- Possibly the weirdest thing any first lady has ever said.

2. “I might have a small fist. But when it comes to fighting, I will put stones inside to enlarge it. Do not doubt my capabilities.”- Grace has the heart of a lion that’s for sure but we doubt that she has magical abilities.

3. “I have said to the president, leave me in charge – I will be good at this, I can do a great job.”- The irony of this statement has only just been revealed. Robert was in power for 37-years, the moment he tried to give Grace any real power the army step in and forced him out.

4. “He [Robert Mugabe] took time to groom me into the woman I am now.”- The funny thing is Robert was wildly popular in Zimbabwe for at least 25 of his 37 years in power. Gucci Grace has never been loved by the masses.

5. “It’s impossible for one to spend a million dollars in an hour. I don’t have time for all these things to pamper myself.”- But she had no problem spending $2.3 million on importing a Rolls Royce.

6. “When these errant youths are expelled for indiscipline Mnangagwa would be quiet and then it worries us when we see them at his house. So Mrs Mnangagwa, when you see these expelled members of the party coming to your house you must beat them up, that’s what a responsible mother does, you must discipline your children, including errant ones so that they do the right things.”- Grace actually thinks she has authority to physically hurt adults. Also shows her delusions of grandeur thinking she is the mother of the nation.

7. “At one point I received calls from people within the party who wanted us to go into the streets and demonstrate against Mnangagwa because they were not happy with him.”- This could in years to come become famous as the beginning of the end for the Mugabe family. Ultimately the military chose Emmerson Mnangagwa over Grace.

8. “These are malicious allegations. I was protecting my sons. Miss Engels was drunk and unhinged and attacked me with a knife”- this one will rile South Africans. Her claim doesn’t make much sense if you consider that she had bodyguards and came away from this deranged girl without a scratch. If she is innocent why did she flee South Africa instead of defending herself in court?

9. “Nowadays there are spirits attacking our children. The spirit of drinking, drug abuse and doing other abnormal things way beyond their age.”- Grace absolves her parental duties in spectacular fashion.

10. “I am telling you because the behaviour of children does not matter if they are the president’s children or not. All children are mischievous these days.”- An attempt to explain away the millions of rands of damage her sons caused at a South African hotel. No doubt their behaviour has nothing to do with absent parents and free access to boatloads of cash.

plusmilang.com looks back and brings you some of the top quotes credited to the country’s president, Robert Mugabe who is the oldest and the longest reining head of state in Africa. Mugabe is celebrated by Africans at large for his witty and unforgettable quotes which always reflect realities in Africa.