PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe returned to the country yesterday, but minus Grace, the First Lady, who was taken ill during their year-end holiday.
Staff Reporter
Mugabe revealed at the airport upon his return that his wife had had a surgery to remove her appendix, but said she was fine.
Addressing Zanu PF supporters who were at the airport to welcome him from his month-long holiday, Mugabe said Grace had been discharged from hospital two days ago and her doctor had given her two weeks bed rest.
“We did not come back together,” he said.
“She will come back later.”
The president revealed that Grace felt pains in her side and decided to have a check-up, which revealed the appendix problem.
He jokingly said he had asked Grace why she did not tell the appendix problem to “stop it”, a phrase used by the the First Lady during her countrywide tours, where she claimed to be fighting factionalism.
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“We did not spend Christmas in the country because Amai ‘Stop it’ had a problem and we said we needed to go for check-ups,” he said.
Mugabe said the family used their annual holidays, mostly in Asian countries to go for medical check-ups, a revelation likely to leave a sour taste in the mouths of Zimbabweans, who do not have access to quality medical care.
Activists have accused Mugabe and senior government officials of wasting scarce resources on foreign medical trips instead of sprucing up the local health sector.
While attention has always been on Mugabe’s health, Grace’s has had a few health scares of her own in the past.
In 2011, she had to fly to Singapore to receive medical attention for an undisclosed illness, with reports speculating that she had suffered a recurrence of a complication she suffered while giving birth to her child.
During her countrywide rallies, Grace revealed that she had fallen ill and had to rest, before meeting other stakeholders ahead of the Zanu PF congress.
Grace is now expected in the country in February, ahead of Mugabe’s 91st birthday celebrations.
