Categories: Stories

Mugabe flies to Singapore for medical check-up

President Robert Mugabe has left for Singapore for a medical check-up barely a week after celebrating his 93rd birthday.

Mugabe, who insists that he is not stepping down until he is told to by his Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, is the party candidate for next year’s elections though some overseas media publications have said he is not likely to make it.

According to The Herald, Information Secretary George Charamba said Mugabe left Harare this morning “for a scheduled medical review” and is expected back early next week.

It is not clear what Mugabe is suffering from but former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono told United States embassy officials in June 2008 that Mugabe had prostrate cancer.

Gono said the cancer had metastasized that Mugabe would only live for three to five more years, according to doctors.

Mugabe has defied all odds but talked of his own death at his birthday party on Saturday.

"It's not always easy to predict that, although you are alive this year, you will be alive next year. It does not matter how healthy you might feel. The decision that you continue to live and enjoy life is that of one personality we call the Almighty God,” he said.

"We should thank the Almighty God that I was able to live from 92 years last year to 93, but much more than that I was able to live from childhood to this day – that's a long, long journey."

Meanwhile former ZANU-PF youth leader Godfrey Tsenengamu who is accused of subverting a constitutionally elected government or alternatively undermining the authority of President Mugabe after he said Mugabe must step down to give way to his deputy Emmerson Mnangagwa has been granted $100 bail.

He is on remand until 9 March.

 

(152 VIEWS)

This post was last modified on March 1, 2017 6:13 pm

Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

Recent Posts

Is it true that 4 million Zimbabweans went without food on several occasions last year?

At least four million people in Zimbabwe reported that they had gone without food on…

November 5, 2026

Did you know that four of the world’s largest banks are all in China?

Four of the world’s largest banks are all in China. Assets of the Industrial and…

October 15, 2026

Zimbabwe one of the 27 countries in the world where the richest 0.1% has more wealth than the bottom 80%

Zimbabwe is one of the 27 countries in the world where the richest 0.1% of…

October 2, 2026

Zimbabwe third among the least free countries in SADC

Zimbabwe has been ranked third among the least free countries in Southern Africa but it…

May 24, 2026

Why I had a girlfriend two months after my wife’s death- Take 1

I had always considered it a curse for a wife to die before her husband.…

May 18, 2026

Why I had a girlfriend two months after my wife’s death

This is a true story about the challenges and loneliness I faced when my wife…

May 17, 2026