‘Kaukonde recruited Grace for Mugabe’

via ‘Kaukonde recruited Grace for Mugabe’ 13 November 2014

HE rancorous relationship between embattled Zanu PF Mashonaland East chairperson Ray Kaukonde and Grace Mugabe dates back to the period when Kaukonde, then a Central Intelligence (CIO) officer, helped the First Lady secure a job in the President’s Office, it has emerged.

Addressing supporters during the Marondera stop of her recent nationwide meet-the-people tour, the First Lady invited Kaukonde to a public puff of the peace pipe but the Mashonaland East chair and business tycoon refused and Grace went ballistic.

She accused Kaukonde of all kinds of perfidy, including corruption, womanising and working with Vice President Joice Mujuru to topple President Robert Mugabe.

A senior Zanu PF official who spoke to NewZimbabwe.com last week on condition he was not named said the public attacks on Kaukonde were meant to stop him from disclosing sensitive information that the Mash East party chair has on Grace.

“The First Lady is worried that Kaukonde belongs to the faction led by VP Joyce Mujuru and may be tempted to reveal lots of information he has on Grace from the time he (Kaukonde) helped her secure a job as a typist in the President’s Office when Kaukonde was still a member of the CIO,” said the party official.

Grace, who is said to be Kaukonde’s close relative, joined the President’s Office in the early nineties as a typist before becoming Mugabe’s mistress while she was still married to Stanley Gorereza, a former air force pilot.

“The spat between Grace and Kaukonde is personal, more than anything else. The two are close relatives and they all hail from Chivhu in Mashonaland East Province. From a personal point of view, they all know each other very well,” added the Zanu PF source.

Addressing the “meet the people tour” at Rudhaka Stadium last month, Grace also warned Kaukonde that his days in the ruling Zanu PF party were numbered.

“Kaukonde uyu ndakambomudeedza 2008; I almost punched him, ndamuudza kuti Kaukonde siya factionalism, the moment of reckoning shall come. Anotsvaga hukama nevanhu vari kuleader faction. He is my relative but he has supped with the faction,” Grace ranted.