Painful talks of ministers in Zimbabwe

harare - Two Zimbabwean ministers clearly had to get used to the recent change of power in their country on Friday. They seemed to have forgotten at a conference of government party ZANU-PF that former leader Robert Mugabe made way for Emmerson Mnangagwa after a military intervention.

'And now forwards with President Mugabe', minister and party spokesman Simon Khaya-Moyo (Energy) chanted. He quickly corrected himself: 'And now forward with President Mnangagwa. 'The new leader initially did not start muscle, but had to laugh when another officer whispered something to him.

Minister Patrick Chinamasa (Finance) also had to swallow his words. He inadvertently referred to Mugabe as a candidate for the upcoming elections. The 93-year-old former president, who was in power for decades, is not in the country himself. According to sources, he visited a hospital in Singapore this week, presumably for a medical checkup.