Billion dollar fortune of 'world's poorest president'

The Zimbabwean leader and his wife are said to own assets worth more than one billion USD with a series of real estate properties scattered in many countries.

When First Lady Grace Mugabe met with her supporters at a villa on the outskirts of the capital Harare in 2014, she strenuously denied that her husband, President Mugabe, was a wealthy man.

Standing in front of about 30 expensive villas owned by herself, Mrs. Grace said that her husband is one of the poorest leaders in the world.

'The poorest president in the world'

"We are happy to have Mugabe. He is the poorest president in the world. I have never seen him ask for money from anyone," said Zimbabwe's first lady.

Grace asserted that her husband was the poorest president in the world. Photo: Getty.

No one believed those words. Grace had many nicknames, all of which stemmed from her lavish, extravagant lifestyle: The First Shopper, Gucci Grace, even DisGrace.

The Zimbabwean president and his wife's residence is said to be so lavish that their daughter Bona's wedding was held on the grounds of the residence. Photographers are often banned from taking pictures to avoid revealing information about the place.

Estimates suggest Mr Mugabe has assets worth up to $1.3 billion, mostly spread overseas. According to a document released by Wikileaks, rumours about the 93-year-old's assets "include everything from secret accounts in Switzerland, the Bahamas and the Channel Islands to castles in Scotland".

Grace is not far behind. She has bought several properties in the wealthy Sandton suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, and a series of projects in Malaysia, Singapore and possibly Dubai.

The First Lady is also said to have an expensive shoe collection. She once spent $75,000 on luxury items during a shopping trip to Paris.

The Mugabe "rich kids". Photo: AllAfrica.

Grace, of course, denies this, despite evidence of extreme luxury in her family. Earlier this year, her youngest son, Bellarmine Chatunga, posted a picture of a watch on Instagram with the caption, “$60,000 on your wrist when your dad runs the country you know.”

Not long after, another video showed him soaking his watch in Armand de Brignac champagne, which costs $400 each.

Rare information about the assets of the Zimbabwean president and his wife only emerged in 2015, when a controversy surrounding the ownership of a $7.6 million house in Hong Kong arose.

In early 2017, Zimbabweans were again stirred up when the government-run Herald newspaper reported that Grace had ordered a $1.3 million diamond ring to celebrate her wedding anniversary.

Doing business the Zimbabwean way

However, information about the couple's overseas assets appears to have been absent since 2002, when the European Union (EU) imposed sanctions and asset seizures on senior Zimbabwean figures after the government used violence to suppress opposition ideologies and evict white farmers from their farms.

"There are no clues about their assets abroad, despite the international intelligence systems of the UK, US... investigating," the Herald newspaper said.

The Mugabe family's lavish wealth is well known. Photo: Getty.

However, in Zimbabwe, everyone knows the wealth and luxury of Mr. Mugabe and his family. In addition to the complex with dozens of villas in Mazowe and the magnificent house in the capital Harare, they own land everywhere.

The most famous is the Omega Dairy Farm, one of the largest dairy farms in southern Africa. Some opposition politicians claim that Mr. Mugabe owns 14 farms across the country. This is considered unconstitutional because it goes against Zimbabwe's land ownership limits.

Leaked information from Wikileaks has revealed how Mr. and Mrs. Mugabe manipulated power and land in Zimbabwe. The report, titled "Doing Business Zimbabwe," quoted a US diplomat as saying that a high court judge ordered the repossession of a farm in northern Zimbabwe, contrary to court orders.

"This farm is close to a house belonging to Mr. Mugabe. In 2009, Mrs. Grace set her eyes on it, she wanted to get it for her son," the report revealed.

The judge filed a lawsuit against the first lady of Zimbabwe for her blatant "land grabbing" and of course the court did not accept it. After finding another plot of land, he asked the owner of the farm to leave, because his property was in Grace's "crosshairs".

According to Zing