Tungwarara Under Spotlight After Missing Zanu PF Dinner as Health Rumours Swirl
Story By Staff Reporter
Presidential Advisor Dr Paul Tungwarara has become the subject of intense online speculation. He missed the Zanu PF President’s Ball fundraising dinner. Since then, videos of him on social media have raised questions about his health. Tungwarara denies he is sick and says he is “doing great.”
Absent From the President’s Ball
Tungwarara was not seen at the inaugural President’s Ball fundraising dinner at the Hippodrome in Harare. The event raised more than US$9 million for the party’s National People’s Conference in Chinhoyi. His absence did not go unnoticed.
Lawyer and opposition figure Fadzayi Mahere raised the issue publicly on X. She asked why he skipped the fundraising ball if he was doing well, and she mocked what she called his place in the party’s “Top Four.” She also asked whether feeding fish had been more important.
Tungwarara replied that he was grateful for the check-in. “I am doing great by God’s grace,” he wrote.
First Airlift to South Africa
The health questions began days earlier, when reports said Tungwarara had been airlifted to South Africa. Sources who spoke to NewZimbabwe.com said he was taken in sick and later airlifted. The same report said he was understood to have suffered a mild heart attack, and ZimLive.com later reported a diagnosis of angina. Those claims have not been confirmed by Tungwarara himself.
Tungwarara later addressed the reports in a video. “Yes, I was airlifted, but I was airlifted for other reasons, not because I was sick,” he said. He added that he was in South Africa on business. In the clip, he fed fish at one of his South African properties. He appeared to move with a limp as he spoke.
The reports came after Wicknell Chivayo’s death in a helicopter crash. Tungwarara had said he would keep flying in helicopters despite prophecies and warnings.
Fresh Claims of a Dubai Airlift
New allegations have since surfaced. An opinion letter published by ZimEye claimed that Tungwarara had been airlifted to Dubai. The publication’s editor noted that his jet was last sighted at Johannesburg on 10 October. This claim comes from a reader’s letter. Neither Tungwarara nor any official source has confirmed a trip to Dubai.
New Videos Fuel Questions
Meanwhile, recent videos of Tungwarara have circulated widely on social media. In one clip, he is seen fishing while seated. Some users said the way he sat looked unusual and suggested he might be hiding a health problem.
In another video, he is seen walking slowly. Commenters pointed to the movement of his hips and claimed he was struggling to walk. They also alleged that the videos were released to cover up an illness.
None of these claims is backed by medical evidence. Observers cannot diagnose anyone from a short video, and the clips alone do not show why he moves or sits the way he does.
Conflicting Accounts Remain
For now, the accounts do not match. Tungwarara says he is in good health. He says his airlift was for reasons other than illness and that he plans to return home. In contrast, unnamed sources told the media he had been sick but was recovering. Social media users, for their part, remain unconvinced.
Until Tungwarara appears publicly at an event or offers further detail, the speculation is likely to continue.
