Mugabe gets check-up

– Zimbabwe’s 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe, pictured, is in Singapore for a “routine medical check-up”, state media reported yesterday.

“President Mugabe on Friday left the country for Singapore for a routine medical check-up,” the Sunday Mail newspaper reported.

The paper said the veteran ruler was expected back in Zimbabwe midweek.

Mugabe’s medical trips to the Southeast Asian city state have become more frequent in recent years. His previous visit was in May, also said to be for a routine medical check-up.

In 2011 and 2014, he had eye surgery in a hospital in Singapore.

Mugabe now walks with difficulty and sometimes dozes off during meetings.

His health has been the subject of increased speculation in recent years and authorities in March arrested two journalists over a report alleging that he was “in bad shape”. In 2016, the government had to deny that he died abroad during his annual vacation.

Mugabe has declined to name a successor and his ruling ZanuPF party has been riven by factionalism for years. Despite his advanced age, the party last year endorsed him as its candidate for the 2018 general elections.

The leader is not the only African president currently abroad for treatment for an undisclosed condition. Nigeria’s Muhammadu Buhari has been in London since May 7 and his lengthy absence has caused political uncertainty.

Angola’s President Jose Eduardo dos Santos recently spent a month in Spain for medical treatment and officials last week announced he had gone back for what was described as a “private visit”. – AFP

Authorities in March arrested two journalists over a report that President Robert Mugabe was ‘in bad shape’.