Mugabe should plan quitting on health grounds, says Tsvangirai

Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday called on President Robert Mugabe to step down saying old age was catching up with the veteran ruler.

President Mugabe, 87, this year is reportedly suffering from advanced prostate cancer but wants to stand against the 59 year old premier in next year’s elections.

The former liberation war leader’s coalition partners have complained that his frequent visits to doctors in Asia were disrupting government business.

On Sunday, President Mugabe returned from his seventh trip to Singapore this year where he is reportedly receiving treatment.

But he denied reports that his health is deteriorating and declared himself fit.

“The question of age is catching, the question of health is catching up,” Mr Tsvangirai told journalists.

“I am sure that advisably he would be in a position for the sake of the country, for the sake of his legacy, for the sake of his children to consider stepping down.”

President Mugabe in power since Zimbabwe’s independence from Britain in 1980 has already indicated that he will stand for another term in elections expected next year.

Mr Tsvangirai who joined the unity government in 2009 after a controversial election the previous year warned that the country was sliding back into anarchy.

He said his arch rival’s party was reneging on agreements anchoring their power sharing agreement.

“We meet at a time of rising political tension in the country, increasing cases of violence, sabotage and total disrespect by the police and other government agencies of the Prime Minister even as he executes government programmes,” he said.

“It appears the demons of violence are back, a siege mood seems to be slowly gripping the country.

“This is a reincarnation  of the violence of 2008 and this country risks sliding back if immediate action is not taken to bring back order and peace in the country.”

The PM spoke a day after police fired teargas canisters into his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) headquarters in central Harare.

MDC said the action was part of a campaign to victimize its supporters but police claimed that they were pursuing vendors of pirated music discs.

Last week Mr Tsvangirai was also forced to cancel a series of rallies in the southern parts of the country by police despite obtaining court orders sanctioning the meetings.

Mr Tsvangirai has endured more than a decade of struggle against the Mugabe regime.

In 2008 he pulled out of a presidential runoff, after his victory in the first-round vote ignited a nationwide wave of attacks that left more than 200 of his supporters dead.

To curb the violence, he formed a power-sharing government with Robert Mugabe in 2009, under a deal that left the 87-year-old president in control of the security forces.

Political tensions are intensifying as Zimbabwe inches toward new elections, possibly next year.