Mugabe's new enemy - cancer?

President Robert Mugabe is alleged to be suffering from prostate cancer, according to sources within his administration.

Mugabe is said to have travelled to Singapore recently for a diagnosis, which confirmed that he was suffering from prostate cancer, throwing his ambitions for continued control of the Zimbabwe government into disarray.

While it is not known how far his prostate cancer has advanced, the Zimbabwean strongman is unlikely to get any meaningful treatment for the terminal illness if travel bans imposed on him by European Union countries and the US are not lifted.

Mugabe’s long time lieutenant, former Vice President Simon Muzenda, died of prostate cancer in 2003, after failing to travel to the US and Europe for treatment. He was treated at Chinese and South African hospitals, before he died.

Experts have said that Mugabe cannot get any meaningful treatment in Zimbabwe, which has only one medical center specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer related illnesses, the US-sponsored Women’s Wellness Clinic in Avondale.

Hundreds of ordinary Zimbabweans suffering from cancer have had to seek treatment in US and European capitals due to the run-down state of Zimbabwe’s health delivery system.

The ageing leader will have to settle for Chinese, Egyptian or South African treatment, which would at best give him one or two more years, according to medical experts within the Zimbabwe government.

Alternatively, he could seek treatment in the US during the United Nations General Assembly in September 2008, but under the conditions of the US travel ban, he cannot leave the UN compound, and can only stay for the duration of the UN sessions.