HARARE – Within hours of President Robert Mugabe missing a step and tumbling off the podium at the Harare International Airport moments after arriving from Ethiopia, “internet memes” of his dramatic fall have gone viral on social media.
Today we take a look at some of the best “memes” produced by creative Zimbabweans across the globe who, in a way, pre-empted attempts by the state controlled media to do damage control on behalf of the 91-year-old Zanu PF leader.
The Zanu PF leader who was recently appointed African Union (AU) chairman will be turning 91 on February 21 and his age showed when he collapsed.
As has become the custom hundreds of party supporters, Zanu PF leaders and cabinet ministers lined up to greet the returning president and they all watched him tumbling down the stairs. The panic by his security aides was there for all to see.
Mugabe was assisted to stand up by some ministers and appeared unhurt by the embarrassing fall. The President continued to greet the service chiefs and government officials who had come to see him, before he boarded his official vehicle and left.
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
According to reports many journalists were forced to delete pictures of the President lying on the ground after he fell.
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!”
Do you think you can create an Internet Meme of Mugabe falling better than this. Send yours to [email protected]
