SW Radio Africa news - The Independent Voice of Zimbabwe
President Mugabe on Wednesday flew to Singapore, yet again sparking conflicting reports as to the purpose of his visit. On Thursday the Zim Eye online newspaper speculated that Mugabe was visiting the Asian nation for ‘medical checkups’. In June Mugabe was in Singapore for what the state media said was a ‘routine eye check’. In 2011 state media had said that Mugabe underwent cataract surgery in Singapore. He was to visit again in July 2012, sparking rumours that he was treated for cancer. However the Herald newspaper reported on Thursday that Mugabe had arrived in the Asian country to attend his daughter Bona’s graduation and was welcomed at the airport by Zimbabwe’s envoy, Claudius Nhema. The Herald went on to say that Mugabe will proceed to join 65 other leaders at the Arab-African Summit to be hosted by Kuwait between 19th and 20th November. Speculation around Mugabe’s health has gone on for years. It was to be exacerbated by the 2010 Wikileaks revelations that Reserve Governor Gideon Gono had told US diplomats that Mugabe had cancer and had less than five years to live. But his aides have routinely scoffed at such rumours maintaining that the Zimbabwean leader is fit and healthy. The Herald showed an apparently jovial Mugabe bidding his lieutenants farewell at the Harare International Airport.