Zimbabwean Vice President Constantino Chiwenga on Saturday returned to the country four months after he was flown to China to seek medical treatment, according to state broadcaster ZBC.

Chiwenga was received at Robert Mugabe International Airport by Chinese Deputy Ambassador Zhao Baogang and some government officials, ZBC reported.

Chiwenga told journalists that he was now very fit to join the rest of the government in working to build the nation.

Chiwenga, 63, was airlifted to China in July for further medical tests on an unspecified illness. Before that he had been out of office for more than two months and was admitted in a hospital in South Africa before being taken to China.

In August, President Emmerson Mnangagwa issued a statement saying his deputy's condition remained remarkably stable.

Chiwenga, the man who led the ouster of Robert Mugabe in 2017, is widely regarded as the driving force behind Mnangagwa and the leading candidate to succeed him.

Source(s): AFP, ZBC