ZIMBABWE — HARARE - Zanu-PF chairman John Nkomo has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, a form of deadly brain cancer, sending shockwaves in the Zanu-PF presidium.

 

It remains unclear if the disease is terminal.

 

But highly placed Zanu-PF and medical sources said Nkomo, who is being treated by a  South African neurologist, has shaved off his head and was scheduled to travel to South Africa Sunday for a session with his primary care physician.

ZimDaily heard that doctors at the Baines Clinic found the tumor during a course of tests following a seizure the 74-year-old senator suffered two months ago.

"Preliminary results from a biopsy of the brain identified the cause of the seizure as a malignant glioma in the left parietal lobe," said our source at Baines.

ZimDaily heard that Nkomo has been scheduled to undergo surgery in South Africa to remove the tumor without damaging surrounding brain tissue. The local facilities in Zimbabwe are creaky and dilapidated and cannot be trusted for such high profile surgery, our source said.

 

He added that there was hope that removing the tumor would give Nkomo a significantly better shot at survival.

Born August 22 1934, Nkomo was the Speaker of Parliament from 2005 to 2008 and is currently a Senator in Zimbabwe's Seventh Parliament. As chairman of Zanu-PF, Nkomo is one of the four people that form the Presidium of Zanu-PF, the highest decision making body in the party.

Nkomo, who had previously served as Minister of Home Affairs, was moved to the position of Minister of Special Affairs in the President's Office in a cabinet reshuffle on August 25 2002 . This was seen as a demotion and was attributed to a power play in Zanu-PF.

 

Following the March 2005 parliamentary election he became Speaker of Parliament in April 2005.

In November 2006, while serving his term as the Speaker of Parliament, John Nkomo shocked many people declaring his intention to seek the candidature for Zanu-PF for the next presidential election in 2008. Nkomo did not seek the nomination, however, as President Mugabe chose to run for re-election.

Nkomo did not stand as a candidate in the 2008 parliamentary election but following the election he was appointed to the Senate by Mugabe on August 25 2008.

He is said to have had planned to go to the US to seek specialist medical attention, where there are doctors who are experts in this type of surgery. But he has failed because he is among a host of individuals not allowed to travel to the US because Washington feels he has worked to undermine democracy in Harare.

While doctors have yet to indicate the stage of Nkomo's tumor, for patients who have moderately severe versions of this type of tumor, the median survival time is three to five years, according to our source.

 

This means that half of patients with tumors found at this stage survive longer, while half do not survive as long. For patients with the most aggressive form of the tumor, median survival is less than a year.

ZimDaily heard that his family was devastated at the diagnosis that Nkomo had a brain tumor.
Nkomo's wife Georgina Ngwenya was said to be pepping her husband at the family's residence at 59 Muchbimding Road, in the leafy Worringham surbub, in Bulawayo.

"They are all praying for him," said a close family source.

For fresh white maize, groundnuts, sweet potatoes, butchery and more, call Mwanaka Fresh Farm Foods - UK 01992 765668 or 07708 572914 or 07859 813238 

 

Got a story, quote, opinion or want your letter published, please e-mail Editor at editor@zimdaily.com