Not asleep, Mugabe’s protecting his eyes

HARARE: Robert Mugabe is not asleep when he closes his eyes for prolonged periods of time in public events but is protecting his eyes from the bright lights, his spokesperson has said.

The 93-year-old Zimbabwean president, who attended the World Economic Forum in Durban last week, was spotted with his eyes closed. It was the latest in a string of public appearances during which observers suggested he was sleeping.

“The president cannot suffer bright lights. If you look at his poise, he looks down, avoids direct lighting,” his spokesperson George Charamba told the state-run Herald newspaper.

Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe for 30 years, is currently in Singapore to receive specialised treatment for his eyes.

Charamba compared Mugabe to Nelson Mandela, whose eyes became sensitive to flash photography after years of working in a limestone quarry on Robben Island.

“You were not allowed to even use flashes whenever Mandela was in the room,” he said.

Defending Mugabe’s medical trip to Singapore, which drew criticism given the collapse of Zimbabwe’s system due to economic hardship, Charamba said the physician looking after the president’s eyes was Zimbabwean and “very, very, very black”. – The Independent