Mugabe confirms the birth of first grandchild - report

President Robert Mugabe has confirmed his daughter Bona has given birth to his first grandchild, a boy, the state-owned Chronicle newspaper reported on Monday.


The 92-year-old president joked the boy - whose name is still not known - would "help look after my cattle". He was believed to have been born in mid-April.

There had been criticism over the fact that Bona Mugabe-Chikore left the country to give birth. She likely travelled to Dubai, where her brother has been at university.

Mugabe regularly travelled to Singapore for medical attention. He told chiefs in Gutu last Friday that his wife Grace was still with Bona because doctors did not want the child to travel until he was a month old, the Chronicle reported.

Mugabe herded cattle as a child. He and his wife own a dairy in Mazowe. In February, state media reported that he had donated 300 cattle to the African Union.

Website NewZimbabwe.com however reported last month that the donation was in fact 30 cattle, and that provincial leaders would hand them over, to thank Mugabe for heading the AU last year.