Ex-Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe died on Friday while receiving treatment in Singapore aged 95.
Mugabe and his wife Grace, had a net worth estimated at $20 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
However, according to a 2001 US diplomatic cable, later released by whistle-blowing organisation WikiLeaks, Mugabe had about £1 billion worth of assets.
The couple enjoyed a luxurious life.
WikiLeaks said reliable information on Mugabe’s networth was difficult to find, but there were rumours his assets included everything from secret accounts in Switzerland, the Channel Islands and the Bahamas to castles in Scotland.
Grace is said to have bought a number of properties in the affluent Sandton suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. They are also said to have bought property in Malaysia, Singapore and Dubai.
She was reported to have the sort of designer shoe collection and spent $75,000 on luxury goods on a single shopping spree in Paris, France. Grace, however, denied the allegations.
The Wikileaks cable said the Mugabe family have six residences, “including a multi-story mansion” worth $9million, and a number of farms around the country.
The multi-story mansion is believed to have 25 bedrooms, a large outdoor pool, two lakes, a massive dining room that can seat more than 30 guests, a large master bedroom with a super king-size bed and a multimillion-dollar radar system.
Mugabe’s home in Harare, is said to be extraordinary. When their daughter Bona was married at the Harare home, there were reports that photographers were ordered not to take any pictures that showed the property in the background.
In 2014, Grace Mugabe summoned a number of supporters to her private compound at Mazowe, north of Harare, in 2014 whete she told them that all suggestions of her husband being a wealthy man were wide of the mark.
She stood in front of luxury villas and insisted that Mugabe was the poorest head of state in the world.
“We are blessed because we have Baba Mugabe. He is the poorest president the world over. I have never seen him asking for money from anyone,” she was quoted saying.
Other than their compound at Mazowe and the palatial home in the capital’s wealthy Borrowdale district, Robert and Grace Mugabe have a number of land holdings, with Omega Dairy farm, one of the largest dairy farms in southern Africa topping the list.
Land Owned By The Mugabe’s
Opposition politicians in Zimbabwe lamented that the Mugabe’s own 14 farms in the country, which contravenes Zimbabwe’s constitution, which limits land ownership.
A glimpse of the couple’s wealth came to light in 2015, during a dispute over ownership of a $7.6 million home in Hong Kong.
There was also another glimpse when Zimbabwean government-owned Herald newspaper reported that Grace had ordered for a $1.35 million diamond ring to mark her wedding anniversary.
Mugabe’s youngest son, Bellarmine Chatunga, once posted a photo of his watch on Instagram, with a caption: “$60,000 on the wrist when your daddy run the whole country ya know!!!”
Shortly afterwards, a video emerged showing Chatunga dousing his watch with champagne from a bottle of Armand de Brignac gold champagne, which retails at around $400 a bottle.
