Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe travelled to Singapore after secretly cancelling a trip to
India because of an alleged terror threat at Calcutta airport, local news
agency News24 reports.
Mugabe, who has been in power
for 36 years, announced on March 7 that he was travelling to India for a
cultural festival in New Delhi which kicked off on Friday. On the day of the
event, however, Mugabe was still to set foot in India and officials close to
him were unwilling to comment on where he was.
The mystery deepened when
Zimbabwean media reported that, according to an in-flight tracking system,
the president had gone to Singapore instead. Leaked U.S. diplomatic wires in
2011 claimed that Mugabe was suffering from prostate cancer and a Singapore
private clinic has been pinpointed by the media as the place where the
92-year-old has reportedly sought treatment.
State-run ZBC radio shed light
on Mugabe’s disappearance on Monday, confirming that the leader did stop in
Singapore instead of India for security reasons, but there was no explanation
of why he went to Singapore at all. Mugabe was due to arrive in Calcutta and
travel to the Indian capital before the start of the event on Friday.
Foreign Minister, Simbarashe
Mumbengegwi told ZBC that a decision was taken last week that it was “no longer
appropriate for the president to proceed as planned after being notified that
the security situation in New Delhi had deteriorated.” According to
Mumbengegwi, Mugabe is now back in Harare.
Press watchdog Zimbabwe Media
Review was skeptical, saying on Twitter that “the bomb scare was 2 days before
Mugabe left” Zimbabwe last week. Twitter users also grilled Mugabe's former
information minister Jonathan Moyo for details after he defended the
president’s trip.
One suspicious user alluded to
the long distances between Harare, Singapore and New Delhi, asking why the
president wouldn’t just fly direct to India: “Would you fly to Gaborone via
Lusaka in a long-haul exclusive jet?”
Moyo replied: “Yes of course if
you are using your own chartered plane & you wish to stopover... for
whatever reason!”
In response, other Twitter
users pointed out that a state official using taxpayer’s money to divert an
international visit into a mysterious detour was not the same as flying on a
private jet.