Mugabe In Singapore For Medical Check

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Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe participates in a discussion at the World Economic Forum on Africa 2017 meeting in Durban, South Africa May 4, 2017. REUTERS/Rogan Ward

Mugabe In Singapore For Medical Check

Zimbabwe’s 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe is in Singapore for a “routine medical check-up”, state media reported Sunday.

“President Mugabe on Friday left the country for Singapore for a routine medical check-up,” the Sunday Mail newspaper reported.

The paper said the veteran ruler is expected back in Zimbabwe midweek.

Mugabe’s medical trips to the Southeast Asia city state have become more frequent in recent years. His previous visit was in May, also said to be for a “routine medical check-up”.

In 2011 and 2014 he had eye surgery in a hospital in Singapore.

Mugabe now walks with difficulty and sometimes dozes off during meetings.

His health has been the subject of increased speculation in recent years and authorities in March arrested two journalists over a report alleging that he was “in bad shape”

In 2016, the government had to deny that he had died abroad during his annual vacation.

Mugabe has declined to name a successor and his ruling ZANU-PF party has been riven by factionalism for years.

Despite Mugabe’s advanced age, the party last year endorsed him as its candidate for the 2018 general elections.