From what I've heard, this behaviour was quite typical of Spitter. In her prime, she successfully raised three offspring to adulthood and attained a high ranking position in the hierarchy. She was instrumental in helping one of the males (Sonny) rise to the alpha position in the late 80s, which increased her status even further. In 1999, her son Gombe killed the next alpha male (Snowy) and assumed the role as alpha. With her son as the alpha male for two years until his death, Spitter was the highest ranking female.
Spitter didn't have an easy adolescence, she lost several offspring, with one being killed by other chimpanzee, before her first successful rearing of Sacha in 1980. Following the export of her mother in 1982, Spitter lost all family support and was no doubt forced to toughen up, as have Shiba and Kuma in more recent years, as to succeed in the community. I think these experience have greatly shaped Spitter's personality. She is a fiercely protective mother and grandmother with very strong maternal instincts.
The opposite can be said for her daughter Sacha, she is now in her mid 30s and had the luxury of her mother's support her entire life. She is highly insecure and rarely has the confidence to support her offspring, screaming hysterically in fear if she is subjected to any conflict with the adult males. This means she is of little use to her sons in conflicts, and maybe Spitter tries to compensate for this.
After Gombe's death, Lubutu assumed the alpha position and the power quickly switched from Spitter's line to Lulu and Lisa's line. There no doubt would have been some resistance from Spitter throughout these changes, which were further escalated in the mid 2000s, when her adolescent grandson Sandali attempted to challenge Lubutu for the alpha position. His many failed bids made him and Spitter (through her support of Sandali) targets of intimidation campaigns by Lubutu (as seen in the video). This was the primary reason Sandali was selected for export to the Adelaide/Monarto Zoo in 2008.
