Second Lady Marry Chiwenga’s hangers-on are reportedly in panic mode following indications that she is slowly losing her grip on power after her husband, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, is said to have filed for divorce.It is reported that Chiwenga has already instructed his lawyer, Wilson Manase, to handle the divorce proceedings and the couple has not been staying together since Chiwenga’s recent return from China for treatment.
Details on the grounds for divorce remain sketchy, giving rise to a number of conspiracy theories.Marry is still at the couple’s Borrowdale Brook house, while Chiwenga is said to be staying at their other Borrowdale property. The animosity between the couple has rendered Marry’s dominance emasculated, making her cronies feel insecure, with some of them reported to be trickling out the country as they fear arrest.
“You know Marry had wielded a lot of power by virtue of being the Vice President and former army general’s wife.
“So many unscrupulous businessmen and dealers were riding on her power as she protected them, but as it stands, her wings have been clipped and she no longer wields such power. ‘She still has State security moving with her, but there is gross mistrust as she feels that her privacy is being invaded and that she is being spied on,” revealed a highly placed source.
It has also been said that one of the beneficiaries of her protection is flamboyant businessman Genius Kadungure, who has pending court cases, including fraud, tax evasion and money laundering. “Genius is enjoying Marry’s protection. Imagine how long all his court cases have dragged on and on. “He duped Honorable Dexter Nduna of close to ZAR1 million. He also faces charges of money laundering. “His company Pioneer Gases is not making any profits and Piko Gases in Botswana is more like a briefcase company.
“These companies are covers for shady deals and he gets protection from Marry,” revealed our source. “He (Genius) is a close relative to Marry and her father (Kenny Mubaiwa) is brother to Genius’ mother, so with things like this happening to, he is insecure now,” added our source.
She also stands to have some deals and contracts revoked, revealed our source.
In 2013, her company Lachelle Travel was cherry picked as Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) official tour company for the UNWTO conference under unclear circumstances. This was not withstanding the fact that Traverze Travel and Tours owned by Zodwa Mkandla was responsible for most ZTA assignments.
Interestingly, Zodwa is Marry’s former daughter in law. Soon after the military intervention that saw the ouster of the late Robert Mugabe, Marry’s company East Town Holdings was granted a multi-million-dollar deal to provide travel services for the Office of the President and Cabinet.
With the latest developments, she is highly likely likely to lose this and other deals that she clinched at the benevolence of Chiwenga.“This system is tricky, once you are out of it, the situation becomes cold. Contracts that are not granted on meritocracy crumble as soon as relationships go sour,” said our source.
Her father, Mubaiwa’s company, KM Auctions has been reportedly getting instructions to auction obsolete properties owned by the Zimbabwe National Army. Meanwhile, Marry revealed that she never neglected Chiwenga in times of sickness and was the one who actually initiated his trip to India.
