By Staff Reporter

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa was pictured on the podium nipping a packet of pills during his Tuesday star rally in Mashonaland West’s Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT).

The 75-year-old leader has no ailment known to the public although unconfirmed reports have linked him to regular hospital visits.

But the closest confirmation he was not well was by former President Robert Mugabe who told a Zanu PF youth interface rally last September that his then deputy did not enjoy the best of health.

This was after Mnangagwa had been flown to South African hospitals with claims he had suffered severe stomach convulsions after eating ice cream produced by Mugabe’s Gushungo Dairies.

The ice-creams were being served for free to VIPs who were attending party rallies.

In attempts to distance his family and business from the poisoning claims, Mugabe went to greater lengths, telling thousands of party followers during a Midlands rally weeks later that his deputy in fact did not enjoy the best of health.

He said it was also normal to fall sick as the human body wears with time.

“Some ailments attack you because your body is no longer strong,” Mugabe said then, adding that Mnangagwa had been ordered by his doctors not to eat foodstuffs such as beef and others.