Mugabe Doesn’t Sleep In Meetings, He Only Protects His Eyes From Bright Light – Aide
President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe[/caption]
Spokesperson George Charamba, on Thursday, reacted to claims that his principal, President Robert Mugabe, 93, sleeps at public events and meetings.
Charamba, in a statement he made while speaking to the state-run Herald newspaper, said that when Mugabe’s eyes seem closed for long periods in public events, he is not sleeping as perceived but is resting his eyes from bright lights.
Recall that only last week when the president appeared on a discussion panel of the World Economic Forum meeting in South Africa, he had his eyes closed for a long time.
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“I feel like a failure when there is this reading that the president is sleeping in conferences, no,” his spokesperson George Charamba was quoted as saying.
“At 93, there is something that happens to the eyes and the president cannot suffer bright lights. If you look at his poise, he looks down, avoids direct lighting.”
Charamba compared Mugabe to Nelson Mandela, whose eyes were sensitive to flash photography after years of working in a limestone quarry when he was imprisoned on Robben Island.
“You were not allowed to even use flashes whenever he was in the room,” he said.
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Mugabe, who has trouble walking unaided, is presently in Singapore on one of his regular medical trips receiving specialised treatment for his eyes.
