FIRST LADY Grace Mugabe’s entry into politics has been nothing short of dramatic.
In just a few weeks, she has crossed swords with more people than she had done in her over two-decade marriage to President Robert Mugabe.
She also does not seem to know her limits as evidenced by her meeting with church leaders in Mazowe on Tuesday.
Some of her statements probably bordered on blasphemy, but that is none of our business.
The clergymen also did their bit to stroke her ego describing her as “queen of the world”.
A few weeks ago, Justice minister Emmerson Mnangagwa described Grace as a queen in the National Assembly. Such praise singing could see her getting carried away.
Grace, like any other Zimbabwean has an inalienable right to participate in politics. Her ascendancy in Zanu PF is the responsibility of that party’s membership.
However, as the wife of the head of State and government, Grace has to be careful about what she says in public.
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Her unrestrained attack on the media in Gweru during one of her nationwide rallies cannot go unchallenged. The First Lady threatened to pray for newspapers that write falsehoods about her to close down.
She has the freedom to pray for anything under the sun, but her threatening words against the media were misplaced.
It should not be lost among us that Zimbabwe is emerging from serious polarisation that was manifest in the media. The polarisation was largely caused by hate speech propagated by politicians, leading to serious cases of political violence in the country.
Journalists became a target of intolerant party activists and some disappeared during the dark period. Zimbabwe does not have to return to that era just for the sake of Grace’s political ambitions.
The First Lady should be a uniting force instead of being divisive. The insults and threats she is dishing like confetti at a wedding would not aid nation building.
