"He is going for his final check-up. As you know, after a cataract operation, there is a period of two weeks to check up. He is using a commercial flight."

In January, a British newspaper reported that Mugabe had undergone a prostate operation in Malaysia, but Mugabe dismissed the media Charamba later said Mugabe, 87, had been in Singapore to have a cataract removed. The president returned to Singapore for an initial check-up last month.

Mugabe, who has been in power since 1980, has been nominated by his party to stand again for president in elections expected later this year, which will end his shaky power-sharing government with long-time rival Morgan Tsvangirai.