Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, 90, falls down steps upon return from African

[Uncle88]

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, 90, fell down steps from a podium after speaking to supporters upon his return from Ethiopia, say witnesses.  :thumbs up

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. 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."

Zimbabwe, a once-prosperous nation of 13 million people in southern Africa, has struggled since Mugabe's government began seizing white-owned farms in 2000. Mugabe is accused of using widespread violence to win several disputed elections, according to human rights groups. The country suffered hyperinflation until it abandoned its currency for the U.S. dollar in 2009.

The EU imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe in 2002 over abuses linked to national elections, banning travel in Europe and freezing the assets of dozens of officials and business representatives. The measures have been gradually lifted in recent years to encourage reform but Mugabe and his wife Grace remain on the EU blacklist.

Now that Mugabe is the head of the African Union, the European Union has decided to ease its travel ban on him while he is chairman for the next year.

http://www.startribune.com/world/290784161.html

[Rev.Cambeul]

Note that sanctions were imposed by the European Union because of Nigger Mugabe's treatment of other niggers; The EU approves of nigger's genocidal actions against Whites in Africa.

@Cailen.

[Uncle88]

yes EU and Mugabe are good friend again i wonder if there is an interest or a suicide of white europeans

[Maritz]

The price they pay ...




12 000 killed by hunger in Zimbabwe every month


Harare(ZimEye)Some 12 000 people are dying of hunger every month in Zimbabwe as president Robert Mugabe tells the world that the country needs no food assistance from outside, it has emerged.


Prominent economic analyst and newspaper columnist Eric Bloch made the revelation during the public taping of a television discussion series known as 'The Transition', sponsored by the MDC, on Tuesday night.


Bloch did not reveal the source of his information. However, he is known to have high level sources in government, the diplomatic and NGO sectors. It was on that basis that he was appointed special advisor to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.


"Although there are no official statistics, 12 000 people are dying due to malnutrition every month," Bloch said.


He called on Mugabe and Zanu PF to drop their opposition to Zimbabwe's being classified a highly indebted poor country (HIPC), which would make the country eligible for the cancellation of some of its crippling $1,3 billion foreign debt. The move would also enable the country to reschedule some of the debt.


Mugabe and his officials argue that if Zimbabwe is classified as a HIPC country that could open the doors for regime change as the country would be forced to adopt new economic policies and follow strict financial management guidelines designed by the World Bank.


The Mugabe government has so far survived on dishing out money to sectors that could pose a threat to its survival, such as the armed forces, with no regard for basic management principles, according to experts.


Bloch said the government was currently spending huge amounts on paying its debts at the expense of social spending on food, health and education.


The United Nations estimates that 2.8 million Zimbabweans are in need of food handouts to tide them over until the next harvest expected in April 2010. Of this figure, only 600 000 are currently receiving food assistance from international donors.


Mugabe has refused to declare an official emergency, a move that could speed up the mobilization of food supplies. Observers say Mugabe fears that if he admits the country has serious food problems that would be an indictment of his disastrous land reform programme that destroyed commercial agriculture.(ZimEye, Zimbabwe)


http://www.zimeye.org/12-000-killed-by-hunger-in-zimbabwe-every-month/