The first lady claims white farmers were trying to reverse land reform policies.

ZIMBABWE - Zimbabwe's first lady Grace Mugabe claims she turned down a US$10 million bribe from white farmers.

She says farmers were trying to prevent takeovers.

Mugabe made the claim at one of her meet the people rallies, which she's holding across the country this month to raise her political profile ahead of a party congress in December.

She gave few details to back up her sensational claim, which is front page news in Zimbabwe's private and state-run newspapers.

The first lady told thousands of supporters at a rally in Harare yesterday that at the start of land reform 14 years ago, white people tried to bribe her husband into reversing the programme.

When that didn't succeed, she said she was approached with the offer.

She further claimed she nearly spat in their faces.