Mugabe's Health - A State Secret

For some unknown reason, ZANU PF like to keep the medical problems of Mugabe a secret. Whether this is because he is really sicker than we realise, or because they believe that his rule will not be opposed whilst we are kept in the dark.

He will be 87 next week, has been head of ZANU PF for longer than most of us have been alive (the PF was added in 1987 following the signing of the Peace Accord with Joshua Nkomo's ZAPU following the Gukurahundi), and he apparently has a want to die in office, borne out by his unruly party's endorsement of his candidature in any forthcoming election, believed to be around August this year.

Assuming he lives that long.

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"Contrary to a statement by Robert Mugabe’s spokesman on the President’s health woes, The Zimbabwe Mail can reveal from impeccable sources that last week the country’s strongman collapsed on many occasions at his mansion amid reports of complications to his surgery on prostate.

President Robert Mugabe is said to be suffering mounting severe setback in his recovery after what had been initially billed as a minor medical procedure in Singapore last month.

His Spokesman told the State media that President Mugabe flew to Singapore for a medical review on a cataract operation.

However, last night, a senior official in the President’s close security told our reporter that the President collapsed on Wednesday night and his wife commandeered the troubled national airline plane to fly him to Singapore for further medical consultation.

Mugabe is struggling to shake off the pain after his prostate flared last month, and other problems associated with his age have complicated his recovery.

The Zimbabwe Mail can also reveal that most senior ZANU PF officials only got the word about Mugabe’s latest health setback from the media.

Only Vice-President John Nkomo and Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa accompanied the first Lady and her ailing husband to the Harare International airport amid heavy security."

In true ZANU PF style, anything to do with Mugabe is done under a cloud of secrecy and a huge security entourage. And why is he using the national carrier to be transported all over the place? With the wealth that the Mugabe family has accumulated, surely he can afford to buy his own aircraft. In fact, what became of the airliner that was forfeit to the State when it was stopped in Harare, transporting mercenaries to Equatorial Guinea?

Has that aurcraft been allowed to rot at the airport?

"Last month speculation was rampant in Harare and backed up by several well-placed sources that the 86-year-old had rushed back to Asia for a prostate operation, prompting a frenzy of succession plotting among the feuding factions in ZANU PF.

Mugabe, one of Africa’s longest serving leaders who turn 87 on February 21, last month dismissed as "naked lies" media reports that he had undergone an operation for a prostate problem in Malaysia.

"We were just resting," said Robert Mugabe on his return from Singapore. The state-owned Sunday Mail said opticians in Singapore, where Mugabe spent a month-long holiday with his family from the end of December, had scheduled a review for the veteran leader.

Mugabe’s health remains a closely guarded secret. The veteran leader told Reuters in an interview last September that he was surprised by constant media speculation over the issue but hardly paid any serious attention to it."

It is also apparent that the Zimbabwean leader's health problems are a lot more serious than we have been led to believe – so much so, that only chosen senior members of his administration know the absolute truth.

"The Zimbabwe Mail revealed that a senior ZANU PF official constantly gave updates on President Mugabe’s health and also speculated that he would declare himself fit in front of State media and that he would crawl back into bed, away from the public glare.

A heavily sedated Robert Mugabe is said to be in 24 hour medical surveillance by a team of Malaysian Medical doctors housed at Phillip Chiyangwa’s (his nephew) house, a stone throw from his mansion."

One could be forgiven for assuming that the President's health should be public domain, but ZANU PF, given the secretive nature of their organisation see no reason to share the information with the people who allegedly voted Mugabe into office.

Robb WJ Ellis

The Bearded Man