Marry Mubaiwa, ex-wife of Zimbabwe’s Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, has had her right arm amputated because she was refused permission to seek medical treatment outside the country.
Marry – a former model – left her footballer husband to wed Chiwenga, now a retired commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces.
Chiwenga shot to international fame when he led the army to oust longtime Zimbabwe ruler, Robert Mugabe.
For a while, Marry enjoyed a glamorous life as the trophy wife of the commander of the powerful Zimbabwe army.
After the “coup that was not a coup” removed Mugabe, Marry was often seen dancing with her husband in celebration of the new order.
It was not surprising that the couple’s public fallout captured the imagination of the poverty-stricken landlocked country.
In the midst of the trouble in paradise, Chiwenga fell ill and was airlifted to India.
Hyperinflation has seen Zimbabwe’s healthcare system all but collapse under the burden of mismanagement and perennial shortages of medications.
Reports at the time suggested that the general was suffering from polonium-210 poisoning. He was later taken to China, where he was treated until he recovered.
Allegations soon surfaced that Marry was behind the poisoning of her estranged vice president husband.
On his return to Zimbabwe, Chiwenga sought a divorce from Marry, who had by that time also developed an illness that swelled her hands.
The high court in Harare presided over the matter and found that Marry’s marriage to VP Chiwenga ceased to exist after she was given a US$100 divorce token in 2019.
Marry’s claim that the divorce was invalid because the US dollars she was given had been deemed illegal currency in Zimbabwe, was, however, rejected by the court.
Since then, the ailing Marry has been arrested, released on bail, and wheeled to court in a wheelchair to face allegations of fraud and money-laundering charges.
As part of her bail conditions, Marry had to hand in her passport.
Her lawyers made several attempts to have her passport released so that she could seek medical treatment outside the country, but that has not been successful.
Last week 40-year-old Mubaiwa was admitted to a Harare hospital in a life-threatening condition.
On Friday her right arm was removed.
Zimbabwe’s 65-year-old vice president, who doubles as the minister of health, has since remarried.
