HARARE – First lady Auxillia Mnangagwa courted controversy on Thursday after she arrived unannounced at the government drugs supplier NatPharm to demand that they account for drugs dispatched to districts hospitals.

The National Patriotic Front described Mnangagwa’s visit to the firm as “unacceptable”.

“I told them that before I leave, I want them to provide me with the current distribution list of the medicines they dispatched, and what type of medicines these were so that I follow up. I went to a hospital in Mashonaland Central and all they had were a couple of boxes with HIV drugs. The situation out there is desperate, and it has reached a stage where we have to question whether people are stealing drugs or they’re just negligent,” Mnangagwa said.

Zimbabweans on social media noted that whatever the nobility of her cause, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s wife had no legal authority to be auditing NatPharm or any other government agency.

They compared her actions to those of the former first lady Grace Mugabe, who was ousted with her husband, the long-time ruler Robert Mugabe in 2017, after the military accused her of interfering with government business.

“The first lady is not a libero type of a minister, poking her nose into the official running of ministries, parastatals and other government institutions,” said Jealousy Mawarire, spokesman of the opposition NPF.

He described her Angel of Hope as a “noble charity idea”, but said this should not give her “licence to overstep into wanting to run government ministries.”

He added: “Which legal instrument empowers her to investigate NatFam drugs dispensary? Is she taking over the role of the Minister of Health, the deputy minister and permanent secretary? Has she become a medical director in the ministry? Her behaviour is totally unacceptable, uncivilised, unprofessional and intrusive. She isn’t a government official, yet she goes to parastatals asking for official documents. That’s totally unacceptable. Civil servants don’t report to a first lady.”

After her husband took over the presidency following the military coup, Mnangagwa has focused most of her time on advocating for better hospitals.

She has visited several hospitals unannounced, upsetting medical professionals who say her visits have not brought any improvements to those facilities, particularly on issues such as the availability of drugs and medical equipment.

On Friday, she flew by military helicopter to Cyclone Idai-devastated Chimanimani where she was expected to meet survivors of the March disaster which killed over 280 people. She was met by two government minister July Moyo (Local Government) and Perrance Shiri (Lands and Agriculture).