What started off as a mission to derail Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's deputy, Joice Mujuru, in the Zanu-PF succession fight has become an opportunity for his wife, Grace.
She was unanimously nominated to take over as Zanu-PF Women's League boss a month ago and since then has been out on "meet the people" rallies.
Outgoing Women's League secretary Oppah Muchinguri explained why Grace Mugabe had come into the picture.
"We realised that there were some who wanted to take over from Mugabe but we plotted against them and decided to use our mother to come and take over because she is a worthy candidate," Muchinguri said at a rally attended by Legal Affairs Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is believed to be Mujuru's rival for the succession.
The Daily News in Zimbabwe earlier this week quoted Grace Mugabe as saying that she had had a vision in which she was "ruling the heavenly kingdom", presumably meaning Zimbabwe.
"One day I saw myself ruling the heavenly kingdom. I'm here today witnessing it and decided to take up the challenge," she was quoted as saying.
Her rallies pull bumper crowds to such an extent that one of the leading state-controlled newspapers ran with a front page headline that read "Grace she can".
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