Zimbabwe VP Returns from Treatment in China

Constantino Chiwenga, Zimbabwe’s Vice-President, has return from China, having spent four months there receiving advanced treatment for an undisclosed illness.

He landed at Robert Mugabe International Airport to little fanfare, the government keen to make this a low-profile return, and was met by his son, Tawanda, brother Onismo, and the Chinese deputy ambassador Zhao Boagang.

Chiwenga personally thanked President Mnangagwa, saying “if he had not intervened the time I was in intensive care in South Africa, I could have been history by now, and when he communicated with his counterpart President Xi Jinping, I was taken to China.

“He did not act as the President but acted as my brother to make sure that I survive.

“And I would also want, before I go far, to thank the people of Zimbabwe for their prayers; those prayers from across the country helped my recovery”.

The Vice President reportedly left for China suffering “memory lapses, speech impairment and excruciating pain”, but was now “very fit and happy”.

Many Zimbabweans were unhappy that Chiwenga was flown out of the country for treatment, especially at a time when people were dying in poorly equipped and underfunded hospitals.

Doctors have been on strike for months over low pay and poor working conditions, resulting in the government sacking over 400 of them for refusing to return to work.

A former general in the army, Chiwenga led the successful coup that toppled Zimbabwe’s former dictator Robert Mugabe, allowing the then-vice-president Mnangagwa to take power.