Mugabe in hospital

Zimbabwean ruler whisked off to Dubai clinic in secret after health scare

ZIMBABWE’S President Robert Mugabe is receiving treatment in a Dubai hospital following a serious health scare.




The Times has established that Mugabe was whisked off in secret to a United Arab Emirates hospital on Sunday. He has not been seen in public since Tuesday last week, when he returned from a visit to Namibia.

It emerged yesterday that Mugabe, who is 85, was not well and was undergoing specialist treatment in the UAE.

It is believed he is being treated by a Malaysian urologist, Awang Kechik, who has for many years treated Mugabe for a prostate condition.

Sources at Harare International airport said Mugabe arrived last week without the usual glitz and glamour. There were no sirens and no officials lined the tarmac.

Passengers aboard the scheduled Air Zimbabwe flight on which Mugabe travelled said the president appeared gaunt. He was accompanied by his wife, Amai Grace.

Well-placed sources said the octogenarian was unwell at the weekend .

Mugabe’s daughter, Bona, was said to have travelled to Dubai from Hong Kong, where she attends university.


His spokesman, George Charamba, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

But some of Mugabe’s colleagues in the Zanu-PF politburo yesterday claimed they “do not know where the president is” — coded language meaning that the topic is too sensitive and off-limits for public discussion.

The official line from the president’s office yesterday was that Mugabe was on a “private visit to Dubai”.

It was only during a weekend press conference that Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa said the president was out of the country. At the time, most of the Cabinet ministers attending a two-day retreat were not aware that he had left Zimbabwe.


Earlier this month, Mugabe became the oldest member of his government when Vice-President Joseph Msika died at the age of 86.

At the burial of Msika, Mugabe complained that the “grim reaper” was decimating the country’s struggle icons.

Yesterday, Mugabe missed the burial of his long-time struggle colleague and Zanu-PF politburo member, Senator Richard Hove.


Acting President Joice Mujuru presided over the ceremony.

Hove’s death on Friday is believed to have hurt Mugabe. He did not make the traditional trip to the home of the bereaved. Instead, he sent Mujuru with a written message of condolence.

Mugabe has never admitted to claims that he has prostate cancer. He has always claimed that his doctors gave him a clean bill of health, but indications are that age is catching up with him.

Yesterday, Zanu-PF bigwigs said privately that they knew something was amiss, but they were confident that Mugabe’s condition was not serious and that he would soon bounce back.

Other senior government sources said Mugabe was expected back in the country before President Jacob Zuma’s scheduled visit tomorrow .

A source close to Zanu-PF said Mugabe “was in Dubai and is on his way back as we speak, to prepare for Zuma’s visit. I know he was holidaying, but he might have used the trip for medical check-ups”.

Zuma is going to Zimbabwe to meet the unity government leaders, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara and Mugabe.


Mugabe’s doctor, Kechik, was among four of his inner circle who, late last year, had their US assets frozen as global impatience with the dictator swelled. The others were businesswoman Nalinee Joy Taveesin, adviser Johan Bredenkamp and controversial South African businessman Billy Rautenbach.

In February, The Times, London, reported that Kechik had treated Mugabe for prostate problems for years and that their relationship included business dealings. — Additional reporting by Sipho Masondo and Sapa