Maravi

(NEWZIMBABWE) Mugabe: VP Msika 'unwell'

Mugabe: VP Msika 'unwell'
by Lebo Nkatazo
25/06/2009 00:00:00

VICE President Joseph Msika is ill, President Robert Mugabe said on Wednesday. Confirmation of Msika’s failing health followed weeks of intense speculation about the 86-year-old veteran nationalist’s health.

A newspaper reported last week that Msika had undergone an operation after suffering a stroke early this month. Speaking to Zanu PF’s central committee on Wednesday, Mugabe said Msika was “unwell”, without going into details of his deputy’s ailment.

Msika has told President Robert Mugabe he wants to step down but had been asked to stay on, the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper reported in May.

And last Thursday, the Financial Gazette reported that Msika had been hospitalised at Harare’s St Anne’s Hospital twice within a fortnight to correct “complications” arising from an operation he had in South Africa.

“Doctors said he may not be able to resume duties any time soon,” the newspaper reported.

Mugabe’s spokesman George Charamba said: "I cannot comment on a family issue. That's a family issue."

Msika became Vice President in 1999 following the death of liberation war icon, Joshua Nkomo.

Labels: JOSEPH MSIKA, MUGABE

posted by MrK @ 5:31 PM