Zimbabwe First Lady Quiet as VP's Estranged Wife Ails In Hospital

First Lady Auxilia Mnangagwa has been challenged to intervene and help Mary Mubaiwa get the medical assistance she needs. Mubaiwa, the estranged wife of Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, has been barred from leaving the country to seek treatment in South Africa for lymphoedema, a condition that has left her lower limbs swollen and infected with boil-like wounds. Doctors in Zimbabwe are recommending an urgent amputation of her right forearm, warning that her current condition is life-threatening, due to the onset of sepsis. Mubaiwa reportedly fell and suffered multiple fractures to her arm.

UK based Restoration of Human Rights Organisation's secretary, Vongayi Mufara said: "Amai, why are you silent when Mary is being dragged through the courts despite being very ill, and all this is before the public's and your eyes? As mother of the nation, you are often referred to as the angel of hope, mercy and peace. This is why we are appealing to you to intervene in this situation."

Mubaiwa was due to appear in a Harare court, to determine whether she breached the Marriages Act, in which she allegedly misrepresented that her husband Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, consented to solemnise their marriage under the Act, during the time he was hospitalised in South Africa in 2019.

Mubaiwa is also facing charges of attempted murder of the vice president at the time of his hospitalisation, as well as charges of fraud and money laundering, writes Nyore Madzianike for The Herald.