Soon after being shoe-horned into the top ranks of Zimbabwe’s ruling party, the wife of ageing leader Robert Mugabe has gained a PhD in orphanages, seen as the latest sign that she may be destined for high office.
In a country where the path to power is paved with academic letters, analysts said the timing of the first lady’s surprise qualification was no coincidence. Armed with a PhD, a seat in the ZANU-PF politburo and her 90-year-old husband’s ear at home, Grace has become a political force as the battle hots up to succeed the only leader Zimbabwe has known since independence in 1980.
