Mugabe's opponents feast on 'speech howler'

President Robert Mugabe's opponents yesterday had a field day following his speech mix-up, saying the howler confirmed that age had long caught up with him.

"It shows the man is old and I have always maintained that he belongs to an old people's home," People's Democratic Party spokesperson Jacob Mafume said.

MDC-T spokesperson Obert Gutu said: "It is a clear and unmitigated sign that he is too old and, therefore, no longer fit for purpose. This clearly goes to show that Robert Mugabe no longer has the requisite mental faculties that are needed for him to continue in office as the Head of State."

Predictably, Gutu said the MDC-T was immediately calling for Mugabe's resignation.

"At the very advanced age of 91, it has been proved beyond a shadow of doubt that Mugabe is way past his prime in that he failed to recognise that he was delivering the wrong speech in Parliament today," he said.

"Zimbabwe doesn't deserve to be run by a nonagenarian President who, in fact, is long overdue for retirement."

National Constitutional Assembly leader Lovemore Madhuku said this was evidence of a poor way of running government.