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Zimbabwe's Mugabe reads wrong speech in parliament

Xinhua, September 16, 2015 Adjust font size:

Zimbabwe's veteran leader, 91-year-old Robert Mugabe, read a wrong speech at an official launch of the national parliament on Tuesday, Mugabe's spokesman said.

The speech, delivered to applauding ruling party lawmakers and muted oppositions, was exactly the same as the lawmakers heard barely a month ago when Mugabe gave a state-of-nation address in the same venue.

Presidential spokesperson George Charamba explained that there had been "a mix-up of speeches resulting in a situation where His Excellency the President delivered the wrong speech."

"The error is sincerely regretted and corrective measures are being considered," Charamba said. The Parliament is reportedly to be summoned to an extra ordinary sitting on Wednesday to hear the correct speech.

The opposition party MDC-T picked up on the veteran president's error and began questioning whether the 91-year-old leader is fit to carry on his five-year mandate leading to the polls in 2018.

Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe at the helm since its independence from Britain in 1980. He served the first few years as the country's premier and later as the executive president since 1987. He defeated his arch rival MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai by majority in the 2013 polls. Enditem