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Mugabe in Singapore for first trip since takeover

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Zimbabwe’s former president Robert Mugabe, 93, who was ousted from power last month, has flown to Singapore for a medical check-up, his ex-spokesman said 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,” explained George Charamba. He has been in increasingly frail health and has reportedly battled prostate cancer.

In recent years he has made regular trips abroad for undisclosed medical reasons.

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

“There is no quest to humiliate or ostracise him,” 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.

Mugabe, who ruled Zimbabwe from independence in 1980, is accused of brutal repression and bringing the country to economic ruin, that the new president has now vowed to revive by boosting agricultural production and attracting foreign investment.

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