Waiting for Mugabe to die

President Robert Mugabe may be hoping around, looking healthy, assured of a new five-year-term at the helm of the country but the Voice of America already has his obituary.

The first obituary was prepared before he even became president. It was prepared in April 1985 when he was still Prime Minister. The latest one was updated in 2008.

Mugabe is, however, not the only African leader whose obituary is ready, just waiting for him to die.

According to information obtained from the Broadcasting Board of Governors which oversees the Voice of America, the propaganda information service of the United States government, other notable African leaders whose obituaries are on file are:

• Former United Nations secretary General Kofi Annan,
• Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos,
• Former Zambia President Kenneth Kaunda,
• Former South African President F.W. de Klerk,
• Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi,
• Archbishop Desmond Tutu,
• Former Namibian President Sam Nunjoma and
• Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Mugabe turns 90 in two months. His health has been the subject of speculation for years with one report in 2008 giving him only two years to live because of cancer.

The Voice of America has a special radio station, Studio Seven,which is dedicated to Zimbabwe and broadcasts in all three major languages, English, Shona and Ndebele.

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