Mugabe's role as "goodwill ambassador" short-lived

The World Health Organization (WHO) has made a frantic and red-faced about-turn after their naming of Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe as a "goodwill ambassador" met with global puzzlement and outrage. Mugabe's appointment was rescinded yesterday, without explanation or apology.
But the question remains: who ever thought it was a good idea to give Mugabe this kind of accolade in the first place. The 93-year old has presided over economic decline and political turmoil over his 37 years in power in Zimbabwe. Moreover, he has presided over a notoriously poor and under-funded health system, one which he himself chooses to avoid like the proverbial plague, preferring the private hospitals of Singapore and Malaysia for his own health care.
The decision appears to lie with recently-appointed Yedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the first African ever to be appointed to the top job at WHO. Dr. Tedros' own past is somewhat checkered: he was a senior member of the brutally repressive regime in Ethiopia, and his own appointment in July of this year met with a significant amount of criticism from Africa and beyond. His contentious championing of Robert Mugabe raises the question of just how independent he is as a director-general of WHO.
Dr. Tedros' abrupt decision to cancel Mugabe's appointment yesterday was made without explanation or apology. Zimbabwean goverent and state-run media commentators have, predictably enough, decried the volte face, alleging intereference by "Western bullies", but it has met with general praise and a communal sigh of relief elsewhere.