Image copyright Reuters Image caption Grace Mugabe developed the farm while her husband was president 
 
 Illegal workers have invaded the farm of former Zimbabwean first lady Grace Mugabe to mine for gold. 
 
 Reporters from the Zimbabwean newspaper Newsday found them uprooting lemon trees, digging shafts and loading gold ore into lorries. 
 
 After unsuccessfully confronting them on Thursday, Mrs Mugabe reported the matter to the police. 
 
 The farm is in Mazowe, where she had forcefully evicted villagers in 2015 - while her husband was still in power. 
 
 Mrs Mugabe said in a statement to the police obtained by the New Zimbabwe website that she was touring the farm when she was "shocked to find approximately 400 men illegally panning for gold". 
 
 When she confronted them at the farm, some 40km (25 miles) north of Harare, she said they "started to shout obscenities at me and continued with their unlawful activities". 
 
 Newsday reports that one worker shouted at her: 
 
 "You no longer have any power to remove us. This is the new dispensation, we do what we want". 
 
 Last year Mrs Mugabe was widely reported to be preparing to replace her aging husband as president of Zimbabwe. 
 
 But the rumours were not welcomed by parts of the ruling party and he was ousted from office in November, to be replaced by his long-time ally Emmerson Mnangagwa. 
 
 The life of Grace Mugabe 
 
 Began affair with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, 41 years her senior, while working as a typist in state house 
 
 Mr Mugabe was still married to his first wife, Sally, who was terminally ill at the time 
 
 Married Mr Mugabe, her second husband, in 1996 in an extravagant ceremony 
 
 They have three children - Bona, Robert and Chatunga 
 
 Nicknamed "Gucci Grace" by her critics who accuse her of lavish spending 
 
 Named head of Zanu-PF women's league in 2014 
 
 Rumoured to be lining herself up to take over from her husband as president of Zimbabwe 
 
 Those rumours were followed by Mr Mugabe being ousted from power after 37 years 
 
 The polarising Grace Mugabe ||||| ONCE a colossal figure, First Lady Grace Mugabe yesterday saw how powerless she has become, as illegal gold panners have invaded her farm in Mazowe destroying citrus fruit, irrigation equipment and disrupted activities at her orphanage. 
 
 BY EVERSON MUSHAVA 
 
 When Grace arrived at the farm and tried to confront the panners, they immediately broke into Kutongwa Kwaro, a song by Jah Prayzah synonymous with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ascension to power at the expense of her husband, former President Robert Mugabe, who was ousted following a military intervention. 
 
 “You don’t tell us to leave, we are just workers. Go and tell that to those who employed us,” one of the panners shouted, as Grace protested that this was her private property. 
 
 When NewsDay visited the farm yesterday, hundreds of panners were busy digging shafts in search of the precious metal after uprooting citrus trees. 
 
 Grace witnessed the panners busy digging and loading gold ore onto lorries for refining, while others were opening up fresh shafts, exposing irrigation pipes sunk metres deep. 
 
 The panners claimed they were employed by a Chinese miner they declined to name. 
 
 Grace tried in vain to order them off her property, with some saying in jest that they would only vacate the property if she provides them with jobs. 
 
 “You no longer have any power to remove us. This is the new dispensation, we do what we want,” one of the panners shouted when Grace left for Mazowe Police Station to report the matter. 
 
 Grace later went to Mazowe Police Station to make a report, where she implicated one Nyazvigo, as having dispatched the panners to her property. 
 
 “On the 29th day of March 2018 at around 11:30 hours, I was touring my farm, Smithfeld when I arrived at Lemon Pool section, I was shocked to find a group of approximately 400 men busy illegally panning for gold,” she said in a statement to police. 
 
 “I then asked them to stop their activities since I am the owner of the farm and I am the holder of a special grant for the whole area. 
 
 “However, the crowd, which was being led by one known as Nyazvigo started to shout obscenities at me and continued with their unlawful activities. 
 
 “The illegal activities have since destroyed my irrigation infrastructure, which feeds lemons pool section, and there is massive land degradation.” 
 
 Grace claimed she had a special grant from the Mines and Mining Development ministry for the area recorded under number 6045 signed on June 10, 2016. 
 
 Speaking to NewsDay after making the police report, Grace could not hide her anger at the panners. 
 
 “Does it mean that if President Mnangagwa is removed tomorrow, he will be disposed of his investments? 
 
 “Is this how he wants to be treated with his investments? 
 
 “This is politically motivated, as you can see that when we got there, they were singing kutonga kwaro garwe.” 
 
 The relationship between Mugabe and his former deputy has reportedly reached an all-time low after the former President intimated his support for the Ambrose Mutinhiri-led opposition National Patriotic Front if Mnangagwa refuses to “correct the November coup”. 
 
 The invasion followed reports of alleged withdrawal of security by Mnangagwa’s government from most of Mugabe’s properties after the former Zanu PF leader told international media recently that he was ousted in a coup engineered by his former deputy. ||||| Harare - Illegal gold miners in Zimbabwe have invaded a farm belonging to former first lady Grace Mugabe, local media reported, just four months after former president Robert Mugabe was ousted from power. 
 
 Hundreds of people have taken over portions of Grace's Smithfield estate in Mazowe, 40 kilometres north of Harare, and refused to move when she confronted them on Thursday. 
 
 "Undeterred by the presence of the miners, who were waving shovels and machetes at her, Grace told them to leave the property but they would not budge," the Daily News paper reported. 
 
 The casual miners uprooted citrus trees and dug tunnels on the property, vowing to remain there until Grace offered them work, the paper added. 
 
 "You no longer have any power to remove us," said one of the miners, quoted by the Daily News. 
 
 "This is the new dispensation - and we do what we want." 
 
 Grace reportedly alerted officers although the police service was unable to immediately verify the account. 
 
 "I was shocked to find a group of approximately 400 men busy illegally panning for gold," Grace Mugabe reportedly said in her statement to police. 
 
 "I then asked them to stop their activities since I am the owner of the farm. However, the crowd started to shout obscenities at me and continued with their unlawful activities." 
 
 Robert Mugabe was forced to quit the political scene he had dominated since independence from Britain in 1980 when the military stepped in and Zanu-PF lawmakers launched impeachment proceedings against their once beloved leader. 
 
 The military moved against Mugabe after he sacked his then-deputy and heir-apparent, Emmerson Mnangagwa, seemingly fearing the nonagenarian was grooming his wife Grace to succeed him as president. 
 
 The former first lady had cultivated her own factional support base within Zanu-PF known as "G-40" that was seen as hostile to the security establishment - Mnangagwa in particular. 
 
 
 

– Wow, rough few months for Grace Mugabe. One day she's first lady of Zimbabwe, the next she's trying and failing to kick 400 illegal gold miners off her farm. The BBC reports Mugabe—whose husband was ousted from power in November—was "shocked to find approximately 400 men illegally panning for gold" while she toured her farm Thursday. Mugabe says she confronted the miners—who were digging shafts, tearing out lemon trees, and loading gold ore into trucks—but they "started to shout obscenities at me and continued with their unlawful activities." According to AFP, the miners were reportedly waving shovels and machetes at Mugabe. Mugabe had forced villagers from their homes in the area in 2015, and one of the illegal miners is said to have yelled at her, "You no longer have any power to remove us." Mugabe says the miners' actions are "politically motivated," NewsDay reports. The miners allegedly claimed to be working for a Chinese outfit but wouldn't name it. Mugabe reported the illegal gold miners to police, but police weren't immediately able to verify her claims.