BULAWAYO – Vice President Constantino Chiwenga left the country last week for a review with his Chinese doctors, the presidency said.
Chiwenga’s last public sighting was on May 11 when he and President Emmerson Mnangagwa attended the silver jubilee of the ordination of Roman Catholic archbishop Robert Ndlovu in Harare.
“He went out for his medicals,” presidency spokesman George Charamba told ZimLive in a terse response to a question over the vice president’s whereabouts after he missed three events attended by Mnangagwa last week.
The 68-year-old underwent major surgery in China in 2019 to correct a condition that narrowed or tightened his esophagus.
This is the second confirmed appointment with his doctors in five months for Chiwenga.
In January, during his annual leave, Chiwenga travelled to China with a presidency spokesman saying he would use the time for “routine medical check-up with his physicians.”
Chiwenga is touted as Zimbabwe’s next president as Mnangagwa serves out his second and final term, which ends in 2028.
