hello there.: Robert Mugabe 'suspends 27 bodyguards' for failing to stop his humiliating fall that sparked mockery online

Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe, 91, tripped as he came down some podium stairs at the airport

He had been addressing his adoring supporters on his return from an African Union meeting in Ethiopia, where he became the 54-nation organisation's chairman

Photographers who caught the accident claim they were asked to delete their pictures by security personnel

Robert Mugabe has suspended no fewer than 27 bodyguards for failing to stop his embarrassing fall down podium steps, sources have claimed.

The 90-year-old Zimbabwe President was caught on camera taking a tumble after addressing supporters at Harare Airport last week.

His security team scrambled to help him to his feet and desperately tried to brush over it by purportedly forcing photographers to delete their pictures of the incident.

But it failed to stop social media users having their fun at the dictator's expense with a series of hilarious memes.

Information Minister Jonathan Moyo later tried to claim that there was also no evidence that Mugabe had actually tripped over, but instead had 'managed to break the fall'.

It has now been reported that 27 members of his security team were suspended on Friday pending an official investigation.

An official source told Zimbabwe'sThe Standard: 'There are many departments that are being investigated, from Air Zimbabwe, the advance team and the security.

'I doubt if some of them will come back. The issue here is simple. The security team was caught napping.'

The source claimed the bodyguards 'failed to adhere to basics' by not standing within three feet of the President.

'These are the bullet-takers and in cases where he falls they are supposed to hold him either by the arm or by the shoulder and should never take their eyes off him,' the official added.

Presidential spokesman George Charamba has denied any suggestions of a shake-up.

However, a number a new bodyguards were reportedly seen with Mugabe at a meeting on Friday.

Mugabe had been talking to the crowd at Harare International Airport, who had gathered to welcome him back from a trip to Ethiopia - where he had been elected chairman of the 54-state African Nation.

It is understood the President - who has overseen his once-prosperous nation's steep decline since starting to seize white-owned farms in 2000 - was helped up quickly by aides, before being whisked away in his waiting limousine.

Zimbabwe's government tried to deny that the President had tripped at all, saying said Mugabe, 90, did not fall down the steps, but 'managed to break the fall.'

Information Minister Jonathan Moyo cited examples of leaders who have stumbled, from Jesus to George W. Bush, adding that, despite photos spreading around the globe, there was also no evidence that Mugabe had actually fallen.

'What happened is that the president tripped over a hump on the carpet on one of the steps of the dais as he was stepping down from the platform but he remarkably managed to break the fall on his own,' Moyo told the state-owned Herald newspaper.

'I repeat that the president managed to break the fall.'

The picture of Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe falling down a set of steps after holding a speech was quickly turned into an internet meme.

Using the hashtag 'Mugabe Falls', images showing the 90-year-old president in a series of funny situations began spreading online.

The memes features a cut-out image of Mugabe in various imagined circumstances, such as part of Beyonce's Single Ladies choreography, surfing or running from security forces.

Others show the ageing leader as an Olympic runner and with his hand on the infamous bottom of Kim Kardashian.

Here's a selection of the best....