HARARE: Zimbabwe’s 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe has flown to Singapore for a “routine medical check-up,” state media reported Tuesday.
“President Mugabe yesterday (Monday) left Zimbabwe for Singapore for his routine medical check-up,” The Herald newspaper reported.
“He is expected back in Zimbabwe at the weekend.”
The leader who has been in power since 1980 regularly travels to the city state for health check-ups and private holidays, and his last medical trip was in March.
The leader who now walks with difficulty and sometimes dozes off during meetings made his last public appearance at the World Economic Forum on Africa last week.
At the meeting in South Africa’s port city of Durban, he addressed delegates in a slurred tone while slumped in his seat.
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-PR 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.
Mugabe flies to Singapore for health check
Mugabe flies to Singapore for health check
UK starts visa requirements for St. Lucians
- Saint Lucia’s government said it was actively engaging with British government
- It said it would continue talks to “explore pathways for maintaining strong mobility arrangements“
CASTRIES: Britain has introduced a visa requirement for Saint Lucians effective from Thursday citing a “notable increase” in nationals from the small Caribbean nation claiming asylum, Saint Lucia’s government said in a statement.
Immigration is one of Britain’s most politically sensitive issues, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government has sought to show it is tightening the system as the populist Reform UK party gains ground in opinion polls.
Saint Lucia, a former British colony, has a population of about 180,000. Last year, the World Bank estimated a net emigration of just 23 people.
Its government said it was actively engaging with British government and would continue talks to “explore pathways for maintaining strong mobility arrangements.”
It said it was informed in a letter dated Wednesday.
Saint Lucia is a member of the Commonwealth, an association of mostly former British colonies. Before the 1970s, nationals of many of these had the right to live and work in the UK. Saint Lucians previously needed a 16 pound Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) to travel to the UK. \
There will be a six-week transition for ETA holders, its government said.
On Tuesday, Britain said it would block study visas for Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan and halt work visas for Afghans.
