President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe delivered the wrong speech at the opening of a new session of parliament, repeating an address he gave to the legislature last month.
The 91-year-old leader read the 25-minute-long speech through to the end on Tuesday, apparently unaware that he was delivering the same text he presented during his state of the nation address last month.
“There has been a mix-up of speeches resulting in a situation where… the president delivered the wrong speech,” said presidential spokesman George Charamba.
“The mix-up happened in his secretarial office,” Charamba was quoted as saying in the state-owned Herald newspaper’s online edition.
“The error is sincerely regretted and corrective measures are being considered.”