Robert Mugabe Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Marriages and children=== [[File:Sally Hayfron.jpg|thumb|upright|Mugabe's first wife, [[Sally Mugabe|Sally Hayfron]], in 1983]]{{See also|Mugabe family}} According to Holland, Mugabe's first wife, [[Sally Mugabe|Sally Hayfron]], was Mugabe's "confidante and only real friend",{{sfn|Holland|2008|p=25}} being "one of the few people who could challenge Mugabe's ideas without offending him".{{sfn|Holland|2008|p=21}} Their only son, Michael Nhamodzenyika Mugabe, born 27 September 1963, died on 26 December 1966 from cerebral [[malaria]] in Ghana where Sally was working while Mugabe was in prison. Sally Mugabe was a trained teacher who asserted her position as an independent political activist and campaigner.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/nov/01/past.politics |title=FO's fight over Mugabe's wife |work=The Guardian |date=1 November 2005 |access-date=14 June 2009 |first=Owen |last=Bowcott |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829194743/http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/nov/01/past.politics |archive-date=29 August 2013 }}</ref> Mugabe called on Zimbabwe's media to refer to his wife as "Amai" ("Mother of the Nation"),{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=96}} although many Zimbabweans resented the fact that she was a foreigner.{{sfn|Holland|2008|p=23}} She was appointed as the head of ZANUβPF's women's league,{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=96}} and was involved in a number of charitable operations, and was widely regarded as corrupt in these dealings.{{sfn|Holland|2008|p=24}} During Mugabe's premiership she suffered from renal failure, and initially had to travel to Britain for [[Kidney dialysis|dialysis]] until Soames arranged for a dialysis machine to be sent to Zimbabwe.{{sfn|Holland|2008|p=76}} While married to Hayfron, in 1987 Mugabe began an extra-marital affair with his secretary, [[Grace Mugabe|Grace Marufu]]; she was 41 years his junior and at the time was married to [[Stanley Goreraza]]. In 1988 she bore Mugabe a daughter, Bona, and in 1990 a son, Robert.{{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2002|1p=96|2a1=Norman|2y=2008|2p=80}} The relationship was kept secret from the Zimbabwean public; Hayfron was aware of it.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=96}} According to her niece Patricia Bekele, with whom she was particularly close, Hayfron was not happy that Mugabe had an affair with Marufu but "she did what she used to tell me to do: 'Talk to your pillow if you have problems in your marriage. Never, ever, humiliate your husband.' Her motto was to carry on in gracious style".{{sfn|Holland|2008|p=22}} Hayfron died in 1992 from a chronic kidney ailment.<ref>{{cite news|agency=Associated Press |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE7DA1331F93BA15752C0A964958260 |title=The New York Times, "Obituaries: Sally Mugabe, Zimbabwe President's Wife, 60", 28 January 1992 |work=The New York Times |date=28 January 1992 |access-date=5 September 2010}}</ref> Following Hayfron's death in 1992, Mugabe and Marufu were married in a large Catholic ceremony in August 1996.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=108}} As [[First Lady of Zimbabwe]], Grace gained a reputation for indulging her love of luxury, with a particular interest in shopping, clothes, and jewellery.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|pp=108β109}} These lavish shopping sprees led to her receiving the nickname "[[Gucci]] Grace".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nehandaradio.com/2014/11/16/gucci-grace-mugabe-worlds-first-female-dictator/ |title=Is 'Gucci' Grace Mugabe about to be the world's first female dictator? |work=Nehanda Radio |date=16 November 2014 |access-date=28 February 2015 |first=Ian |last=Birrell |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402214602/http://nehandaradio.com/2014/11/16/gucci-grace-mugabe-worlds-first-female-dictator/ |archive-date=2 April 2015 }}</ref> She too developed a reputation for corruption.{{sfn|Meredith|2002|p=109}} In 1997, [[Grace Mugabe]] gave birth to the couple's third child, [[Chatunga Bellarmine]].<ref name="BBC">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/744174.stm|title=Mugabe: Freedom fighter turned autocrat|work=BBC News|last=Winter|first=Joseph|access-date=1 July 2008|date=10 May 2000|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123095912/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/744174.stm|archive-date=23 January 2009}}</ref> [[Robert Mugabe Jr.]] and his younger brother, Chatunga, are known for posting their lavish lifestyle on social media, which drew accusations from opposition politician [[Tendai Biti]] that they were wasting Zimbabwean taxpayers' money.<ref name="veconomist">{{cite news|title=The offspring of Africa's strongmen are living it up|url=https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21726097-scions-despots-post-pictures-their-lavish-lifestyles-social-media|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|date=10 August 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171017145651/https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21726097-scions-despots-post-pictures-their-lavish-lifestyles-social-media|archive-date=17 October 2017}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. 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