NEWSDAY REPORTER/ CHANNEL 4
The hospital also offers the latest in blade-free laser cataract removal surgery.
The 31-second video that went viral yesterday showed Mugabe retreating to avoid the camera while his wife, First Lady Grace, and two bodyguards repeatedly attempted to stop the journalists from filming.
When Channel 4 put up the video on Tuesday night, it had just 35 views in the first hour, but by Wednesday they had risen to 18,000, topping 29,000 by Thursday morning.
See the video below
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While pacing back and forth in the reception area, Grace could be heard charging at the cameraperson saying: “You shouldn’t take photos! Why are you taking photos?” to which a hoarse male voice responded telling her they were members of the Press and, above all, it was a public place.
“No! No! No! No! But you should not take photos!” Grace continued to shout as Mugabe retreated.
Mugabe was also accompanied by a woman dressed like a Zimbabwean nurse.
The President, who was due to address a Zanu PF politburo meeting yesterday which was called off, did not attend the burial of national hero Brigadier-General John Zingoni at the National Heroes’ Acre also yesterday.
Acting President Joice Mujuru stood in for Mugabe saying he was out of the country.
Zanu PF was also forced to cancel a politburo meeting scheduled for yesterday to attend Zingoni’s burial.
The veteran leader left the country last week on a “private visit” to the Asian country during which, according to his spokesperson George Charamba, he would undergo “a routine eye check-up following a recent procedure on the same”.
Mugabe’s health has been a subject of local and international speculation.
There have long been unsubstantiated reports that the Zanu PF leader was suffering from advanced prostate cancer. It was clearly evident Mugabe was struggling with his right eye when he addressed people during Zimbabwe’s Independence Day celebrations at the National Sports Stadium in Harare on April 18.
MUGABE IS WELL, SAYS MOYO
But Information minister Jonathan Moyo dismissed reports that Mugabe was not well, saying he possibly could be in better shape than most of the journalists who speculate about his health.
This is Mugabe’s second trip to Singapore this year for medical attention. Asked to comment on the reports, Charamba yesterday said: “I don’t work for Channel 4 and you want me to comment on that? I don’t tell you when the President is coming as it is in our initial Press statement we issued when he travelled out of the country last week.”
Mugabe’s advanced age and failing health has reportedly escalated factional wars over succession in Zanu PF. The rival camps are reportedly led by Mujuru and Justice minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, but both have denied leading any faction.
Earlier this month, Presidential Affairs minister Didymus Mutasa said Zanu PF could soon press criminal charges on people who discussed Mugabe’s health and the party’s succession issue.
