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Zimbabwe's 91-year-old President Robert Mugabe read out the wrong speech at the opening of parliament on Tuesday, his spokesman said, blaming a mix-up in his office for the error.

Mugabe had delivered the same speech during a state of the nation address on Aug. 25, in which he pinned his hopes on China to help revive Zimbabwe's struggling economy.

"The mix-up happened in his secretarial office. Therefore the delivery in Parliament should be set aside," spokesman George Charamba was quoted as saying by the online edition of the government-owned Herald newspaper.

Charamba said Mugabe would read the correct speech later at a Harare hotel.