Robert Mugabe arrives in Praetoria on November 4, 2013. (Alexander Joe/AFP/Getty Images)
90-year-old Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has not appeared in public since returning from vacation abroad last week, fueling speculation that he might be ill or even dead. The rumors got rampant enough that his chief aide and spokesperson George Charamba issued a denial to the local news outlet Daily News Wednesday, asserting that the controversial statesman is simply on leave for the month, consistent with his routine.
“I do not know how he is,” Charamba said. “The president is still on leave and I am not obligated to go every morning to say Mr President, how is your limb. President Mugabe has the right to go on leave. It is a statutory right. It is a human right.”
Mugabe essentially secured the presidency until death when he pushed through a revised constitution last year that limits presidential terms but included a loophole for his benefit. No doubt, premature death would rattle his large network of political allies and security elites who are not used to being held accountable by the electorate.
