Zimbabwe's First Lady Grace Mugabe has been named as one of the biggest beneficiaries from diamonds harvested at the controversial Chiadzwa diamond fields, after it was discovered that she is a shareholder in Mbada Diamonds – one of the companies clandestinely awarded mining rights at Chiadzwa by President Robert Mugabe’s government.



Government sources told The Zimbabwean that the first lady had a substantial interest in Mbada Diamonds, together with little known South African company, Grandwell Holdings and the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation.



The information was revealed following a series of meetings between Grace Mugabe and Mbada Diamonds' Chairman Robert Mhlanga, which raised eyebrows among officials.



Mhlanga, a retired Zimbabwe Airforce Vice Marshall, is a close confidante to the First Family dating to the days of the Congo war, when he was President Mugabe's personal helicopter pilot.



Mbada Diamonds caused a furor in 2009, after it secretly transported over 300,000 carats of diamonds to Harare International Airport from Chiadzwa without police supervision.



Human rights groups have in the past accused President Mugabe’s government of plundering the precious resource in Chiazdwa.