President Robert Mugabe left Harare yesterday for Singapore for a “routine medical check-up”, reviving speculation over the 88-year-old leader’s health.
The veteran leader, who was seen off by several top Zanu PF officials, has been in the Far East several times reportedly to seek medical attention as age and reported ill-health take a toll on him.
Yesterday’s trip makes it the ninth time Mugabe has been in the Far East since last year. Although Mugabe’s office has repeatedly claimed he was going for cataract surgery, Mugabe is rumoured to have prostate cancer.
A June 2008 United States diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks last year said Mugabe had prostate cancer and he would not live beyond 2013.
In April, the international media was awash with reports that Mugabe was battling for life in Singapore but came back fit, laying bare the claims that he was on his death bed.
Last week, while addressing his faction-plagued Zanu PF party, Mugabe said he was still fit to rule and dismissed the succession race that had caused fissures in the former revolutionary movement.
A minister from the MDC-T said Mugabe looked fit yesterday when he chaired the Cabinet for an hour before he left for Singapore, leaving Vice-President Joice Mujuru, who will be acting in his absence, to chair Cabinet.
Yesterday’s trip makes it the ninth time Mugabe has been in the Far East since last year. Although Mugabe’s office has repeatedly claimed he was going for cataract surgery, Mugabe is rumoured to have prostate cancer.
A June 2008 United States diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks last year said Mugabe had prostate cancer and he would not live beyond 2013.
In April, the international media was awash with reports that Mugabe was battling for life in Singapore but came back fit, laying bare the claims that he was on his death bed.
Last week, while addressing his faction-plagued Zanu PF party, Mugabe said he was still fit to rule and dismissed the succession race that had caused fissures in the former revolutionary movement.
A minister from the MDC-T said Mugabe looked fit yesterday when he chaired the Cabinet for an hour before he left for Singapore, leaving Vice-President Joice Mujuru, who will be acting in his absence, to chair Cabinet.
