Is old age slowing Mugabe down as Mujuru still continues as acting president?

By Violet Gonda
10 February 2006

Robert Mugabe’s health status continues to be a mystery as there is never an official comment or statement about his well being. But over the last two months speculation has grownover the condition of the dictator who turns 82 on the 21 st of February.

Mugabe is supposed to be officially back at work after his annual leave expired at the end of January but state media is still reporting that Joyce Mujuru is acting president. Commentators say the latest reports allude to the “mysterious disappearance of the president which has set tongues wagging in diplomatic circles.”

Over the years it has become increasingly difficult to prove anything about Mugabe’s health but concerns were raised recently when he was spotted with his wife Grace at a clinic in South Africa.

Although he attended a cabinet meeting and opened parliament this week, some insiders say he has drastically scaled down public engagements amid speculation that his health is failing.

Constitutional law expert Dr Lovemore Madhuku said that it seems Mugabe is slowly scaling down as he is handing over work to Joyce Mujuru. Madhuku said the recent signing of the draconian General Laws Amendment Act (GLAA) into law by Mujuru is significant in that Mugabe rarely gives that power and authority to anyone but himself. The law expert believes Mugabe is actually grooming Mujuru.

Last Friday, Mujuru signed the Actb which advocates the imprisonment of journalists who write falsehoods, people who insult the president and bans unauthorised gatherings, . She signed in her capacity as Acting President as Robert Mugabe is on leave.

He said it might be misplaced for people to believe that the octogenarian is scaling down because he is ill but that he is beginning to enjoy resting at home, at his age. In January Mugabe took time during his leave to go to the African Union summit in Sudan but he immediately handed back the reins to Mujuru when he returned to Zimbabwe.

Madhuku said, “I believe Mugabe keeps postponing his return to work by a day… and so he is acting against the natural order of things (retiring) when he says he wants to go back to work.”

He said what is happening now is very clear that Mugabe is showing that he has nothing else to contribute to the country as things are not improving, even with Mujuru as acting president.

Madhuku added, “Mujuru is very very far from the kind of person that would lead our country. This country has enormous problems and from what we have seen of Mujuru, and this has nothing to do with gender, is that she has no capacity. She is just empty.”