Govt pays for Mugabe Singapore trip

The government is picking up the tab for former president Robert Mugabe, 93, who has flown to Singapore for a medical check-up, his ex-spokesperson said on Thursday.

Mugabe and his wife Grace have not been seen in public since he was forced to resign after a military takeover brought a sudden end to his authoritarian 37-year reign.

“He is in Singapore. It’s part of his package as a retired president to travel overseas. He routinely goes to Singapore to meet with his doctors,” George Charamba told AFP.

Charamba, who is now President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s spokesperson, said that the new government was keen to show respect to Mugabe.

“There is no quest to humiliate or ostracise him. The idea was to extricate him from the clutches of the cabal which had captured him. That has been done so that his legacy comes out shining,” he said.

The military stepped in on November 14 and ushered Mnangagwa into office after a power struggle with supporters of Grace Mugabe, 52, who had emerged as Mugabe’s chosen successor. — AFP