By Own Correspondent| European Union (EU) head of delegation for Zimbabwe, Ambassador Philippe Van Damme has called on Zimbabweans to assist former president Robert Mugabe have a dignified retirement from public life while he prepares for his departure.

Said Ambassador Van Damme at the Ambassador hotel in Harare (Wednesday) at a discussion organised by MISA Zimbabwe:

“On what message I want to share with Robert Gabriel Mugabe today, I said he is a frail, old and lonely figure who deserves a dignified retirement from public life.

You know with some of these old men, it is difficult to quit and this old man seems to be a bitter old man now for the way he was forced to leave power.

So, I think that way should be found to let him go in a dignified way, now he has to prepare his physical departure.

I think we need to give him, encourage him to prepare for his final departure and try to protect him against those who try to manipulate him because he has given something to this country, whether we like it or not and the way things have been revolving around him in the last 9 months, it’s quite painful for him.”