'The police are not my agents' - Mrs Mugabe on botched $1.3m diamond ring deal

Grace Mugabe, wife of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has given her version of accounts in respect of her involvement in a botched $1.3 million dollar diamond ring transaction.

She was reported to have ordered the seizure of three properties belonging to the Lebanese businessman for failing to refund the cost of the ring after she rejected it. According to reports, Mrs Mugabe rejected it because it did not meet her specifications.

In a statement to the police, the First Lady of Zimbabwe denies having illegally seized three properties belonging to Jamal Ahmed, as the latter has made believe. Rather, she asserted that the properties were in the hands of the Zimbabwean police who are investigating the case.

“The police are not my agents, they are state officers who enforce the law and investigate inappropriate behavior. That’s why they protect these properties,” her statement read.

A Zimbabwean judge recently ordered her to remove her representatives from the three buildings belonging to the Lebanese and to ensure that all workers who had lost their jobs through the takeover are immediately reinstated.

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The facts of the case dates back to April 2016, when the first lady ordered a diamond worth 1.35 million dollars that her husband wanted to offer her for their twenty years of marriage.

Finally, after the purchase, she decided to return the ring because it was polished contrary to her specifications. She demanded a full refund of the amount paid, failure to do so according to the businessman led to the confiscation of his properties.

He said he had been the victim of threats from the Zimbabwean intelligence services and the First Lady herself. Adding that even with a court order for release of his properties, that has yet to materialize.