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Robert Mugabe is facing claims he is too old to lead Zimbabwe after mistakenly reading out a month-old speech from start to finish at the opening of parliament.
Mr Mugabe delivered the same speech he gave a month ago during a state of the nation address on Tuesday, with the ruling Zanu-PF clapping at intervals even after his mistake became apparent.
According to the BBC, some members of the MDC had been warned not to disrupt proceedings in an anonymous message ahead of the speech and MPs remained silent throughout.
His spokesman George Charamba told the state-owned Herald newspaper the error was a “mix-up [that] happened in his secretarial office”. He said Mr Mugabe would read the correct speech at a later date.
Obert Gutu, a spokesman for the Movement for Democratic Change, claimed the demands of being President were too much for Mr Mugabe at his age and called for him to step down.
Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Show all 29 1 /29Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Robert Mugabe takes part in the 1974 Rhodesia conference in Geneva, jokingly puts up his fists as he encounters newsmen
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Robert Mugabe Robert Mugabe, 1976
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures In 1976 Robert Mugabe was the Patriotic Front leader
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Mugabe meeting Thatcher, 1980 Mugabe said he thought he could 'trust' Thatcher but didn't believe anything Tony Blair said
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Robert Mugabe and Indira Gandhi Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe and Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at the Summit of Non Aligned in New Delhi, 1983
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Robert Mugabe and David Lange Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Robert Mugabe (R) welcomes his New-Zealand's counterpart David Lange at Harare airport, 1985
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Robert Mugabe receives the Hunger Project award Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe holds up the Hunger Project award as recipient of the Africa Prize for Leadership 15 September in New York, 1988
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Deputy President of the African National Congress Nelson Mandela, center, and Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, far right, greet the crowds at the start of the new Zimbabwe public holiday, Mandela Day, in Harare in 1990
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Robert Mugabe and Fidel Castro Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe (L) is greeted in Havana by Cuban President Fidel Castro, 1992
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Robert Mugabe and Bill Clinton US President Bill Clinton points to items of interest on the White House grounds to President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe during his visit, 1995
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Robert Mugabe married Grace Marufu in 1996
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures On Blair's criticism, 1997 "So, Blair keep your England, and let me keep my Zimbabwe"
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Robert Mugabe with his wife and Queen Elizabeth Britain's Queen Elizabeth with President Mugabe of Zimbabwe and his wife, pose for photographers after being the Queen's guest at Buckingham, 1997
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Robert Mugabe with Nelson Mandela and Sam Nujoma South African President Nelson Mandela, centre, and his counterparts, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, left, and Namibia's Sam Nujoma, shake hands after a joint press conference in Pretoria, 1999
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Robert Mugabe prays Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe prays at Harare Catholic cathedral church during a special requiem prayer for the late the country's founding father and liberation war hero Joshua Nkomo, 1999
Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Robert Mugabe greets then Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in 2001
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Robert Mugabe and Idriss Deb Presidents Idriss Deby of Chad (L) and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe attend a tree-planting ceremony on the African Union (AU) square in Ouagadougou, 2004
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures On the West "Countries such as the U.S. and Britain have taken it upon themselves to decide for us in the developing world, even to interfere in our domestic affairs and to bring about what they call regime change"
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures On voting "Our votes must go together with our guns. After all, any vote we shall have, shall have been the product of the gun. The gun which produces the vote should remain its security officer - its guarantor. The people's votes and the people's guns are always inseparable twins"
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures On food aid "We are not hungry... Why foist this food upon us? We don't want to be choked. We have enough" 1.5 million people were starving in 2005, especially in the drought-stricken south. Food aid became politicised
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Mugabe celebrating his 89th birthday He spent £400,000 on his celebrations. Mugabe and his supporters tucked into an 89kg cake and 89 cattle were presented to him from the country's central bank. A lot of his country are starving
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures On power "It may be necessary to use methods other than constitutional ones"
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, lights a flame at celebrations to mark 32 years of independence of Zimbabwe in 2012
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Robert Mugabe with his family Zimbabwes President Robert Mugabe (R) and his wife Grace (L) with their 24-year-old first-born child and only daughter Bona Mugabe (C) pose after the convocation at MDIS-University of Wales graduation ceremony in Singapore, 2013
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Robert Mugabe votes Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe (L) casts his vote by his wife Grace and daughter Bona (R) at a polling booth in a school in Harare, 2013
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with his Zimbabwean counterpart Robert Mugabe at the Kremlin in Moscow in 2015
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Robert Mugabe, then President of Zimbabwe waits to address the United Nations General Assembly General Debate at the United Nations in New York in 2016
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Mugabe’s interests and those of the majority of Zimbabweans drifted far apart. In mid-November 2017, the issue was brought to a head when the army took power in Zimbabwe. On 21 November he conceded and resigned, after 37 years in power.
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Robert Mugabe: Zimbabwean independence leader in pictures Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe addresses media during a surprise press conference at his residence "Blue Roof " in Harare, on the eve of the country's first election since he was ousted from office a year previous
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"We have a 91-year-old president who has a fading memory, who, if he had sharpened up his memory would have immediately picked it up that this speech was actually a stale speech," he told Sky News .
"But the mere fact that he went on and on and on up until the very end, reading an old speech, shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that Robert Mugabe is too old."
The veteran leader has yet to rule himself out of running for the next election in 2018, when he will be 94-years-old. He has vowed to stay in power for as long as he has strength in his body.
In February Mr Mugabe took a tumble down a flight of stairs as he returned to Zimbabwe and reportedly ordered journalists to delete pictures of the incident.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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