20120708
AFP
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe arrived home Saturday from Singapore where he went for a medical check-up amid increasing concerns about his health, state media said.

State television, which showed him alighting from a plane and shaking hands with the Vice President Joice Mujuru and several senior government officials, said he looked "fit and strong."

Africa's oldest leader left Harare on Monday for what officials said was a "routine" health check.

The 88-year-old, who has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980, often makes visits to the city-state for medical treatment and underwent cataract surgery there last year.

Mugabe's wife Grace recently told state media that her husband was still fit, rises as early as 5:00 am and consistently does his daily exercises.

"They say Mugabe is a very old man ... but he is very sound and lucid ... and very energetic, too," Grace was quoted as telling the Sunday Mail last month.

Mugabe's last visit to Singapore in April sparked rumours over his health, with media reports suggesting he was fighting for his life in hospital, allegedly for treatment of a cancer-related ailment.

WikiLeaks last year published a 2008 US diplomatic cable saying that central bank chief Gideon Gono had told the US ambassador at the time that Mugabe had prostate cancer and had been advised by doctors that he had less than five years to live.