Mugabe's Spokesman: Mugabe Not Asleep In Meetings, He's Protecting Eyes

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe's spokesman has defended him against criticism that he sleeps during official meetings.The 93-year-old President was seen apparently asleep during proceedings of the World Economic Forum for Africa in Durban, South Africa on May 4.The president spokesman, George Charamba, said that he feels like a failure when people criticise him."I feel like a failure when there is this reading that the President is sleeping in conferences, no," his spokesman George Charamba was quoted as saying in the state-run Herald newspaper."At 93, there is something that happens to the eyes and the President cannot suffer bright lights. If you look at his poise, he looks down, avoids direct lighting."Mugabe's weakening health is being watched carefully in the country. Images of him struggling to walk on a red carpet and toppling from a raised lectern in 2015 have trended on social media and become the butt of jokes.Charamba compared Mugabe to Nelson Mandela, whose eyes were sensitive to flash photography after years of working in a limestone quarry when he was imprisoned on Robben Island."You were not allowed to even use flashes whenever he was in the room," he said.Charamba said that Mugabe's medical care is supervised in Harare by a "very, very, very black" Zimbabwean doctor — and that he only flies abroad for specialist attention.Mugabe has been in power since 1980 and says he will run for election again next year.