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President Mugabe cradles his grandson, Simbanashe Chikore, in Singapore at the weekend while First Lady Grace Mugabe and proud mother Bona (partly obscured, right) look on. — Picture by Presidential photographer Joseph Nyadzayo

Harare Bureau
An ecstatic President Robert Mugabe finally met face-to-face with his grandson, Simbanashe Chikore in Singapore at the weekend. The baby was born mid last month but the President could not see the new arrival earlier because of a busy schedule at home, only managing to travel on Saturday morning.

The President revealed last week while addressing members of the Gutu clan in Masvingo that he was now a grandfather after his only daughter, Bona Chikore, gave birth to a baby boy outside the country last month.

President Mugabe had gone to Masvingo to convey his condolences to the Gutu family following the death of his uncle, Chief Gutu, Anos Kasirai Masanganise.

The President was explaining why his wife, First Lady Grace Mugabe, had not accompanied him to event as she was attending to the grandson.

Bona and her husband, Simba Chikore, wed on March 1, 2014, at a colourful ceremony in Harare.

The glittering event was attended by several Heads of State and Government, with top African musician Kofi Olomide providing entertainment.

Our sister paper The Sunday Mail reported yesterday that Bona was only three-years-old when President Mugabe bought her school uniform at British retailer Marks and Spencer.

He taught her basic English, with words like “bridge” and “river” featuring in that vocabulary, but he soon postponed that pursuit after she pronounced “railway” as “laiway”!

Many remember this snippet from President Mugabe’s 90th birthday ZTV interview as he recounted his daughter Bona’s formative years. “Well, I got married when I was in my 70s,” President Mugabe began, “and I said if I can only see her through the second grade — fine.”

He then revealed his anxieties: “I hope time moves fast so that he goes to schools . . . I never thought I was going to live to see my daughter getting married.”

And so President Mugabe lived to see Bona Ouma Mugabe exchange nuptials with Simba Chikore on March 1, 2014, in Harare.

The couple gave him a grandson about a month ago, and he could not have envisaged a better gift.

First was Bona, followed by the boys — Robert Jr and Bellarmine — then Bona’s marvellous wedding and now a grandson.