Former President Robert Mugabe's relatives claim that they severed relations with their daughter-in-law former First Lady Grace Mugabe more than two years ago.
The Mugabe clan, which includes the Mugabe, Jenami and Matibiri families, accuse their daughter-in-law Grace of being allegedly disrespectful to family elders, showing off and sowing seeds of disharmony within the family.
Mrs. Mugabe is said to have last visited her husband’s Zvimba rural home two years ago due to her alleged bad relations with the in-laws.
Mrs. Mugabe and her husband now spend most of their time at one of their multiple farms in Mazoe area, Mashonaland Central province.
Mr. Mugabe's uncle, Ben Matibiri, told VOA Studio 7 that Mrs. Mugabe usually uttered “things that are unbecoming of the first family, belittling everyone as she tried to use borrowed powers at every opportunity.”
Matibiri said Mrs. Mugabe was the complete opposite of the former president’s first wife, the late Sally Hefron Mugabe, who he said was a great “daughter to the family who took care of everyone's problems and needs.
"Sally (Mugabe) was more like a daughter to me. She took care of the family unlike the present wife of Mugabe who is talkative and don't know what to say at the appropriate time."
Matibiri’s sentiments were echoed by his nephew, Clemence, who claimed that Mrs. Mugabe was disrespectful to family elders and had a penchant for exhibiting her power to whoever cares.
"She (Grace) was fond of controlling everyone wherever she is failing to take her role as a daughter-in-law in the family," said Clemence.
Mugabe, Zvimba neighbour, Fidelis Chinyanyi, also made a comparison between Mrs. Grace Mugabe and the late Sally Mugabe, saying the former is no longer respected by the Mugabe clan.
Another neighbor of the former president, who declined to be named for fear of being victimized, said Mrs. Mugabe’s behavior “is very embarrassing to all of us”
Former president Robert Mugabe’s relatives believe that his wife may have caused his downfall for making unbecoming utterances in public when she attacked former Vice President Joice Mujuru and then current president Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Mrs. Mugabe’s spokesperson and her relatives were not reachable for comment.