POLITICAL parties and analysts yesterday blasted President Robert Mugabe and his family for seeking specialist treatment outside the country after running down the local health delivery system, thereby condemning the majority of the population to poor health services.
BY Everson Mushava
This came as Mugabe, who often flies to the Far East for medical treatment, disclosed on Saturday that his daughter, Bona Mugabe-Chikore, had travelled to the Far East for maternity services by “medical doctors she is familiar with”.
MDC-T spokesperson Obert Gutu said: “It boggles the mind why Bona Chikore, who is ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe, will fly all the way to the Far East simply to give birth. We have got some very advanced and well-equipped maternity hospitals right here in Harare and one just wonders why the Mugabe family always invariably prefers to travel abroad for all their medical needs.”
Gutu added: “Although he routinely preaches about the virtue of patriotism, it appears Mugabe and his family have very little regard for local medical institutions. One wonders why the Mugabe family doesn’t just permanently migrate to the Far East. They seem to be very comfortable staying in far-away places.”
People’s Democratic Party spokesperson Jacob Mafume said: “This is the one (Mugabe) who claims that Africa is for Africans and Zimbabwe is his, yet his grandchild is not even a citizen of Zimbabwe by birth. The granddaughter is a dual citizen of another country as it is.”
Mugabe and First Lady Grace have also frequented the Far East for medical treatment.
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Political analyst Vivid Gwede said allowing Bona to give birth in Asia was an indictment on Mugabe’s leadership and even his patriotism.
“He should be proud to have his daughter give birth at a Zimbabwean institution. What it all shows is that he does not have confidence in local health institutions. This confirms the problem we have always had about the leadership of this country. They don’t trust the institutions they are superintending on.”
