Zimbabwe’s Mugabe says long life is ‘God’s will’

Africa’s oldest leader and Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe, whose state of health has sparked speculation in recent years, yesterday credited his longevity to “God’s will”. “I do not know how I have come to live this long. It is all God’s will,” Mugabe, who turns 90 on February 21, said at the burial of his younger sister Bridget. Belying recent rumours that circulated after he had not been seen in public for weeks, Mugabe showed no signs of ill health as he spoke for an hour at a graveside podium at the rural family rural home in Zvimba, some 100km west of the capital Harare.  Mugabe, now the only survivor among six siblings, lamented the losses of his older brothers Raphael and Michael when he was young, as well as the loss of younger brother Donato in 2007 and younger sister Sabina in 2010. Bridget, who died in hospital on Saturday aged 78, had been in a coma since collapsing at Sabina’s funeral. Mugabe’s eulogy soon switched to politics.