By Never Kadungure | Harare Bureau |
HARARE – The Zanu PF controlled State Media in Zimbabwe is being ramped up to blame what it calls a “poorly laid-out carpet” for President Robert Mugabe’s dramatic fall at the Harare International Airport on Wednesday.
Mugabe (91) missed a step and tumbled off the podium moments after arriving from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia but the state media controlled by his party had its own spin saying Mugabe “tripped over a poorly laid-out carpet….., but remarkably managed to break the fall before walking to his car, evidently unscathed.”
“President Mugabe turned to leave the podium and was walking down a flight of steps when he tripped over. Remarkably, the President broke the fall and landed on his knees. Aides helped him to his feet and he walked to his car,” the Herald newspaper wrote.
Information Minister Jonathan Moyo who witnessed the incident blamed the carpet for Mugabe’s embarrassing fall.
“The misrepresentations and morbid celebrations of the incident by malcontents is the real news here and not the alleged fall as there was none.
‘’What happened is that the President tripped over a hump on the carpet on one of the steps of the dais as he was stepping down from the platform but he remarkably managed to break the fall on his own. I repeat that the President managed to break the fall.
‘’Nobody has shown any evidence of the President having fallen down because that did not happen. The hump on which the President tripped was formed by two pieces of the carpet which apparently had not been laid out properly where they joined.
“And to be honest with you, even Jesus, let alone you, would have also tripped in that kind of situation. In the circumstances, there’s really nothing to write home about the nonsensical celebrations by malcontents who are imagining a fall that never was since it was actually broken by the President himself,” he said.
Not to be outdone was Zanu PF’s youthful Deputy Director of Information Psychology Maziwisa who yesterday wrote on social networking site Twitter declaring: “President Robert Mugabe returned home this afternoon, looking as youthful as ever!”
Tellingly the First Lady, Grace Mugabe, who normally supports the president to walk is still in the Far East allegedly recovering from an operation. Some reports however suggest the two fell out over an alleged affair with Higher Education Minister Oppah Muchinguri.
See previous story: Grace furious with Mugabe over alleged ‘lover’ Muchinguri
The Herald newspaper proceeded to give examples of world leaders who stumbled at one time or other.
“Former Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard fell face first near the Ghandi Memorial during an official visit to India in October 2012.
Former United States President George Bush, missed a step while watching the Athens Olympics in 2008, and required the help of aides to stop him from an ignominious fall.
Five years earlier, In 2003, Bush was left bruised after falling head-first from a Segway – a stand-on scooter designed to make motorised travel user-friendly.
Queen Sofia of Spain, stumbled at the White House, with President Bill Clinton coming to the rescue, as she ascended steps during visit to Washington in 2000.
In 1975, US president Gerald Ford tumbled down the Air Force One stairs while visiting Austria.
These are just a few examples of high-profile incidents where leaders fell down with the stories hardly speculating about the health or ages of the people concerned,” the paper wrote.
But none of the leaders mentioned were 91 years old like Mugabe. There are growing calls for the Zanu PF leader to step down and make way for a younger leader with the energy to move the country forward. Instead some in Zanu PF are suggesting he will be the presidential candidate in 2018 when he will be 94.
