Under the headline “President well, fine”, the state-run Herald newspaper said stories about Mugabe’s health emerged each year when he took his annual leave outside the country.
“You cannot doubt that there will be a story on the President’s alleged death every January,” presidential spokesman George Charamba told the paper.
Charamba blamed the ZimEye news website for starting the rumours.
“This is the way the website seeks to improve its hits in order to get dirty money… There is a financial incentive to the grim lie,” he added.
The Herald said that Mugabe was in the “Far East” but did not specify which country.
Mugabe, who is the world’s oldest national leader, has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980. The ruling ZANU-PF party has been driven by factionalism for years, with Mugabe avoiding naming a successor. However, senior Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa is seen as the front-runner to be the next president.
Speculation about Mugabe’s health began last year when he tripped and fell down some steps at a televised ceremony. In 2011, Wikileaks released a 2008 US diplomatic cable which stated that Mugabe was reported to have prostate cancer and had less than five years to live.
Source: Yahoo
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