In what could be a fatal blow to Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s intended stay on power his medical doctors have reportedly advised him to step down after he was reportedly diagnosed with prostate cancer.
According to Spotlight Zimbabwe, Mnangagwa who is on record saying he will still be in power until 2030, was infected with prostate cancer early last year and the presidency was reportedly kept in the dark about the septuagenarian’s ailment to avoid pandemonium in Harare.
The Zimbabwe leader celebrated his 78th birthday on September 15 last week.
South African medical personnel who refused to be named for fear of reprisal were quoted as saying that Mnangagwa started suffering from prostate cancer early 2019.
Prostate cancer is cancer that occurs in the prostate — a small walnut-shaped gland in men that produces the seminal fluid that nourishes and transports sper_m.
It is one of the most common types of cancer in men. Usually prostate cancer grows slowly and is initially confined to the prostate gland, where it may not cause serious harm.
However, while some types of prostate cancer grow slowly and may need minimal or even no treatment, other types are aggressive and can spread quickly.
Prostate cancer that’s detected early — when it’s still confined to the prostate gland — has a better chance of successful treatment.
The Zimbabwe strongman is understood to be receiving specialised treatment from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and in Belarus to curb his ailment.
In September 2019, Mnangagwa told the world during the United Nations General Assembly, in September 2019, that his deposed predecessor Robert Mugabe, had died of cancer, but could not disclose or describe the type of cancer involved.
“Treatment had stopped, doctors had stopped treatment, chemotherapy, one, because of age and also because the cancer had spread and it was not helping anymore,” Mnangagwa said in comments carried by the state-run publication, The Herald, about a year ago.
Government officials had previously dismissed as false, 2011 WikiLeaks reports that the late Mugabe had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
spotlightzimbabwe
additional reporting: Zwnews
