Zimbabwe’s 90-year-old President Robert Mugabe fell down a staircase on Wednesday as he walked off a podium after addressing supporters at Harare international airport, an AFP correspondent said.
He had just returned from Ethiopia where he took over the rotating chairmanship of the African Union.Mugabe took over the post of African Union chairman on Friday, replacing Mauritania’s President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. Mugabe appeared to miss a step and toppled when he left the raised lectern at the airport Wednesday afternoon, according to several witnesses, who insisted on anonymity because of security concerns.
His aides quickly helped him up and escorted him to his limousine which sped away, they said. “He addressed supporters who welcomed him
He missed a step as he walked down from the podium and immediately fell down,” said a witness. “Mugabe, who arrived after midday to a rapturous welcome by hundreds of party supporters and the entire Zanu PF leadership, was walking down the stairs off the podium to greet service chiefs and other government ministers when he missed a step and fell to the ground.
“Mugabe is usually assisted by First Lady Grace Mugabe who, in most cases, holds his hand to climb up or down the stairs. But Wednesday, he was exposed as Grace is recovering from an operation she underwent in the Far East weeks ago while on holiday.
“The fall shocked many and sent security into panic. Photojournalists were forced to delete pictures of the Zanu PF strongman on the ground. “Mugabe appeared unhurt and returned to greet the service chiefs and government officials before he boarded his official vehicle and left.
Some press photographers who captured the fall said they were forced to delete their pictures by security personnel. Mugabe’s spokesman was not immediately available for comment. Mugabe was elected chairman of the 54-nation African Union at a summit of African leaders on Jan. 30 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The role of rotating AU chairman is largely ceremonial. He celebrates his 91st birthday on February 21. Mugabe takes annual vacations every January to Asia, including Singapore where he has visited specialists for checkups on his eyes, according to Zimbabwean officials. The Zimbabwean leader has repeatedly insisted that he is “fit as two fiddles.”
Via -Yahoo News
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