33-year-old Bona (center) filed for divorce from her husband, Simbarashe Mutsakhuni. Photo: ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images
Rolls-Royce cars, a Dubai mansion and former white-owned farms seized under Robert Mugabe's regime are all up for sale in a divorce proceeding that confirms the late Zimbabwean dictator's lavish fortune .
Divorce court papers list for the first time the majority of the family's portfolio, previously kept under wraps due to economic turmoil.
Nearly £65m worth of property has been revealed after how Mr. Mugabe's 33-year-old daughter Bona filed for divorce from her husband Simbarashe Mutsahuni, also named Chikore.
Mr Chikore, a former airline pilot, opposed the divorce but demanded joint custody of the couple's three children and some of the property. the couple's assets.
In court documents, he listed 21 farms and more than 25 residences in Harare's upscale suburbs, including one valued at £32 million, as well as a £6 million mansion in Dubai.
The vehicles listed included a £640,000 Rolls-Royce and three Range Rovers.
Ms Mugabe also had «substantial foreign currency cash» and allegedly smuggled «$760,000 in cash into a bag» from the couple's home, according to the newspapers.
The family «helped themselves»
Details about The family's lavish wealth has been exposed amid rampant inflation and high unemployment in the country.
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The family, led by Grace, the former president's second wife, has long been accused of helping herself to some of the best farms Africa and the richest urban property, although Mugabe called himself a Marxist or a socialist.
Their property had never been officially registered before, and the family refused to acknowledge ownership of many of the farms.
Farm takeovers led to poverty
The list includes several former white-owned farms that were taken over when Mr Mugabe allowed the veterans War of Independence Zimbabwe to take the land in a program called «Accelerated Land Reform».
The takeovers that began after 2000 quickly ended. an economy that depended on agriculture, leaving large numbers of people in poverty and unemployment.
The list included the 2,500-acre Iron Mask Estate, which the former first lady took control of in 2002 , after Joe and Eva Matthews were kicked out of their home.
Also listed is Foyle Farm in the same Mazove Valley, which was once the most productive dairy farm in Zimbabwe, run by Ian Webster.
He was ransomed for about $5 million and fled to Australia.
Sources said it's unclear whether Ms Mugabe used her own money or public funds for the ransom.
Grace Mugabe was nicknamed Gucci Grace because of her shopping trips. Credit: AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi
Neighboring farmers and workers told the Telegraph this week that the new owners are mismanaging the herd and Foyle Farm is no longer producing dairy.
Grace Mugabe, nicknamed Gucci Grace due to her trip purchases, also purchased several historic citrus farms in the Mazov Valley, which are listed in the case file.
Elsewhere, when war veterans took over the land, Mr. Mugabe bought the 1,100-acre Highfield farm at a bargain price. price from the white master. Several other farms nearby have been taken over.
The court papers also list properties in Dubai, although in the past United Arab Emirates real estate agents have said the family only rented.
“Agricultural land belongs to the state”
When Zimbabwe moved to an inclusive government from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change in 2009, the public was shocked to learn that many of Mugabe's farms were financed and managed by the state department of agriculture.
Taxpayers financed farm workers' wages, seeds, fertilizers and crop management.
George Charamba, who was Mr. Mugabe's press secretary and now works in President Emmerson Mnangagwa's office, denied that the couple owned 21 farms, according to the BBC.
“All agricultural land belongs to the state, and farmers use it on lease,” he said.
No one should “build any politics or controversy around [the] so-called 21 farms allegedly owned by Cde Bona and her ex-husband.”
Mr Mugabe was ousted in November 2017 and died in Singapore in 2019 at the age of 95 .< /p>
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