A man who says he taught Zimbabwe's veteran President Robert Mugabe in kindergarten says that as a young boy he was known to teachers for his short temper and discipline, state media reported Saturday.
Oscar Munyoro Katsukunya said he taught Mugabe, who turned 88 on Tuesday, at his home village of Murombedzi in 1928.
"Most of the teachers quickly got to know about Robert Mugabe because he was short-tempered though principled," The Herald newspaper quoted Katsukunya as saying.
Katsukunya believes he was born around 1897 but his national identity card gives his date of birth as November 12, 1907.
He said long life was a gift God.
"Long life comes from above," he said. "It is God who blesses with many years, especially when he has a purpose for someone."
Mugabe, in power since independence from British colonial rule in 1980, is Africa's oldest leader.
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