Costly celebration, criticised as cultism and hero worship, comes at a time of heavy job losses and slowing economic growth
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Robert Mugabe is expected to celebrate with thousands of supporters at the Rudhaka stadium in Marondera. Photograph: Jekesai Njikizana/AFP/Getty Images
Plans for a lavish $1m (£600,000) celebration of Zimbabwean presidentRobert Mugabe's 90th birthday have been condemned as the country lurches towards another financial crisis.
The tribute to Africa's oldest head of state – and second oldest in the world after Israel's Shimon Peres – is expected to surpass last year's party, when special gold coins were minted and Mugabe was presented with a cake said to weigh 89kg.
But the costly event will come amid heavy job losses, slowing economic growth and what the central bank describes as a "severe and persistent liquidity crunch", reviving memories of the disastrous meltdown five years ago.
Mugabe, who continues to defy the march of time and constant health speculation, travelled to Singapore this week for cataract surgery on his left eye, according to his spokesman.
But he is expected back in time for the birthday celebration with thousands of supporters at the Rudhaka stadium in the town of Marondera on Sunday, two days after he turns 90.
Absalom Sikhosana, secretary for youth affairs in Mugabe's Zanu-PF party, told reporters recently: "This is a very special celebration. Turning 90 is no mean feat. You cannot turn 90 years when you are a womaniser, a drunkard or a chain smoker. We will be celebrating the life of a very special person on a very special occasion."
It is a milestone in the history of the country, which has known no other leader since gaining independence from Britain in 1980, but activists and opposition politicians described the event as an extravagant waste of money when many citizens are going hungry.
"It would be inappropriate for a country's head of state to have such a lavish and costly celebration at a time when the country is faced with the disaster of flooding and a crumbling economy," said Dewa Mavhinga, a Zimbabwe researcher at Human Rights Watch. "It's about cultism, hero worship, institutionalising Mugabe, with sycophants around him trying to oil the wheels of patronage. There's an entire system behind this corruption."
Reflecting on Mugabe's 34 years in power, Mavhinga added: "His human rights record is one that no one can honestly admire. There is nothing to celebrate about his birthday or his legacy – and there are concerns that, if something should happen to him, the country might be plunged into chaos if there is no clear mechanism for transition."
