President Grace Mugabe? Is the all-powerful African First Lady making a comeback? Many are called to the exclusive power club of strong-willed spouses, but few are chosen. Clockwise from top left: Former Egypt First Lady Suzanne Mubarak, Uganda First Lady Janet Museveni, former Ethiopia First Lady Azeb Mesfin and current Zimbabwe First Lady Grace Marufu Mugabe. LATER this month Zimbabwe’s succession intrigues will reach a pivotal moment when the ruling ZANU-PF party holds its much-anticipated women league conference. Barring any last minute suspense in a saga that has gripped the country, First Lady Grace Mugabe will become the league’s secretary, marking her entry into active politics and catapulting her into a position that allows her to influence her now 90-year-old and increasingly frail husband’s successor. The current holder of the position, Oppah Muchinguri, has thrown her weight behind the move, but Grace would still have to contend with party rules that demand a candidate for an executive position in the women’s league have actively served for 15 years. She meets the basic age requirement (18), but not that of tenure. As such, the Politburo, ZANU-PF’s de facto highest decision making body, may have to throw out the rules, a step which would have huge import for internal party unity. Whatever the outcome of what is now a frenzied behind- scenes-battle to succeed Robert Mugabe, the First Lady will have laid a marker in the race. Grace will also be a hark bark to the days of the all-powerful African First Lady, an enigmatic and often controversial figure in post-colonial Africa and who has tended to come dressed in many outfits. Most African First Ladies are invariably termed as “powerful” but the threshold to be a member of this club has been low— that one only be married to an incumbent and as such have no option but to dabble in an array of politically-expedient activities. The majority fall in this “dutiful” band, one that has its roots in the first liberation, with a variable cast of names from Fathia Nkrumah to Betty Kaunda and Graça Machel. There were also those whose role, by virtue of being married to the typical African Big Man—was to support their husband maintain an even tighter grip on their nascent countries. You would count Marie-Antoinette Mobutu and Catherine Denguiadé Bokassa in this grade. Contemporarily, this category counts the consorts of veteran rulers of countries such as Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Burkina Faso, Congo-Brazzaville and Cameroon. The Egyptian cradle A more non-conformist set has tried to redefine this willowy calibre of the First Lady, bringing in their own personality to being spouses of larger-than-life figures. Modern day examples include Patience Jonathan, who Nigerian media increasingly portray as the most powerful First Lady in the country so far due to the influence she wields over her husband. But Egypt was the cradle for this type of emergent First Lady, with Queen Farida Zulfikar and Jehan Al-Sadat throwing down the gauntlet for the prevailing dutiful stay-at-home club. It was a challenge well taken by Suzanne Mubarak who came from middle class Egyptian stock. In office for 20 years before her husband was deposed in 2011, she was internationally decorated for her humanitarian work But her calm and poised figure in her initial decade as First Lady later gave way to a ruthless streak in her less-intellectual husband’s last years, the real power behind the regime and the driving force behind the push to groom one of their sons Gamal as successor. Yet when the end came it was swift—painted as out-of-touch, Suzanne quickly cut a deal with the authorities, giving up $3.4million and a Cairo house, despite being said to be in control of billions of illicitly acquire family money. She now dedicates her time to visiting her incarcerated husband; her elder woman stature said to be the only reason she is not in prison with him. Tunisia’s Leila Trabelsi, a Machiavellian-like figure who was also a victim of the the Arab Spring that swept her husband Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali out of power, would also fit in this mould. Trabelsi, surrounded herself with family members, and controlled vast swathes of the economy, the depth of which was laid bare by a World Bank report in April. But despite being influential, few of First Ladies have tended to wield outright political power in the manner Grace Mugabe is attempting. Select few For this kind of First Lady you would have to look at the ranks of those who have either held elected party posts or been in government. The list thins considerably. In this category you have Ugandan First Lady Janet Museveni and Ethiopia’s Azeb Mesfin. You could count Winnie Mandela but you would have to be overly generous in your assessment. Married to former prime minister Meles Zenawi—whom she fought alongside in the bush in the struggle against Mengistu Hailemariam’s Marxist regime, Azeb was the ultimate insider. A member of parliament, she until last year controlled a powerful multi-billion dollar state-investment vehicle, and from her perch as a executive committee member of the ruling party was one of the power-players during the succession upon her husband’s death in August 2012. She was painted by supporters and dissidents alike as even more strong-willed than her husband, an achievement given Meles’ towering shadow over a country he stubbornly shaped in his own image. A delay in confirming current PM Hailemariam Desalegn was partly attributed to unsuccessful attempts to wriggle herself into power. Janet Museveni does not come with such intrigues, but her canny husband has in recent years tested the waters about propping her as his successor, to mixed reception. He appointed her a minister in his Cabinet, and she is in addition a popularly-elected parliamentarian, in what is seen as positioning herself in the wider scheme of things if her husband, in power since 1986, in the rare event, chooses to hang his coat. Simone Gbagbo, described as co-President before her husband Laurent fell on hard times would also have been comfortable in this group. She remains the president of the former ruling party’s parliamentary group, of which she is also an executive member. She is currently under house arrest, as the country struggles with a fragile reconciliation process ahead of a crucial election next year. Grace Mugabe no doubt sees herself as part of this ultra-exclusive club, with self-interest not far off, and will have watchers of the evolving institution of the the African First Lady paying rapt attention over the next few months. Twitter: @LMAfrican
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 22:48:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015