Subdued Mugabe raises eyebrows

President Robert Mugabe yesterday delivered one of his shortest speeches during Zimbabwe Defence Forces Day commemorations in Harare as he showed signs of fatigue. Mugabe stuck to his prepared speech and was not at the podium for more than 30 minutes.

The brief address was in sharp contrast to the speech delivered at the Heroes Acre the previous day, which lasted over an hour.

Mugabe struggled to walk to the podium after standing for a few minutes during an inspection of the military parade.

He used a military van to inspect the parade which was mounted by the Presidential Guard and Air Force of Zimbabwe.