Mugabe expects first grandchild

By Bridget Mananavire

President Robert Mugabe’s eldest child, Bona, has taken a cue from her parents, opting to give birth in Singapore, shunning Zimbabwean health facilities, as the nonagenarian leader expects his first grandchild.

Bona’s 92-year-old father revealed that it was only a matter of days before he became a grandfather.

While addressing mourners at the late Victoria Chitepo’s home in Harare on Saturday night, Mugabe said his wife Grace had gone to join their daughter, waiting for her to give birth.

“There was such a great friendship between my present wife and Mai Chitepo. I was not able to get her on the phone yesterday, she had to run, vakaenda kumwanasikana akati ndinoda kuberekera kuno kwandakadzidza  kunana chiremba vandinoziva (Grace went to attend to our daughter, Bona said she wanted to give birth where she learnt, and where she is acquainted with the doctors),” said Mugabe.

“So she is about to give birth, it’s a matter of days now. I don’t know, she will be heartbroken, but I will tell her today, but by now I think she knows.”

The child, whose sex is yet to be made public will be the nonagenarian’s first grandchild and Grace’s second as she has another, from her eldest son Russel Goreraza.

Bona did her accounting and finance degree in Hong Kong before she went on to do her Master’s degree in Banking and Finance at the Management Institute of Singapore.

Both her parents have also put their trust in Singapore doctors, where they travel back and forth to get medical help.

Mugabe has been criticised for running down the country to the point that the health facilities in Zimbabwe are now in critical condition.

However, the country’s head of State uses State funds in allowances and chartering an Air Zimbabwe plane to Singapore, where he gets the finest medical attention.

Even Grace revealed in the past that she had been operated on several times in Singapore.

“They have been 50 years full of illnesses for me. The other day when I returned from Singapore after I had been hospitalised, I had undergone surgery there, and I was trying to narrate to people my medical history,” Grace said last year during her birthday celebrations.

Mugabe’s revelation about Bona’s choice comes as maternal mortality cases are still high in Zimbabwe, as mothers in the country fail to get the necessary medical attention.

It has also been reported that 30 percent of premature babies are dying annually at Mpilo Central Hospital.

“The president’s daughter can’t trust Mpilo (Central) Hospital where 30 percent of premature babies die annually. It’s for commoners,” analyst and former advisor of former Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai Alex Magaisa posted on Twitter yesterday.

“He or she will be a dual citizen! The man speaks about it, without any hint of irony! Look East for health tourism. Even the president’s daughter does not trust our own hospitals and doctors.” Daily News