HARARE – A rights group has reportedly criticised Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s planned lavish 90th birthday celebrations, as the country faces a crumbling economy.
Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party was reported to be planning to raise at least US$1 million for the veteran leader’s “grand” birthday bash.
The celebrations were set to be held in Marondera on Sunday.
But according to The Guardian, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it would be inappropriate for the head of state to have such a costly celebration at a time “when the country is faced with the disaster of flooding and a crumbling economy”.
Dewa Mavhinga, a Zimbabwe researcher at HRW said the celebrations were about “cultism, hero worship, institutionalising Mugabe, with sycophants around him trying to oil the wheels of patronage”.
Mugabe is currently in Singapore for a medical operation but his spokesperson George Charamba maintained that he would be back in time for the birthday celebrations.
The event is set to be attended by thousands of party supporters and according to The Zimbabwe Mail, liberation movements from the SADC region had already confirmed their attendance.
– www.theguardian.co.zw
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