No fanfare, interest as Mugabe turns 94

Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday turned 94 at the confines of his Harare mansion  without an over-the-top kingly party as has been the norm for the past 93 years.

Mr. Mugabe has practically been forgotten by media houses since he got ejected from office by Zimbabwe military in November 2017 and replaced by his former VP Emmerson Mnangagwa.

For the first time in decades, Mugabe spent his birthday alone with his wife Grace at home. This was a yawning contrast compared to other fetes which were filled with regal and rehearsed extravaganza in the poor Southern African state.

In 2018,  it was reported that ruling party Zanu-PF spent $2 million on Mugabe’s birthday party outside the second biggest city Bulawayo and a local bakery donated a cake weighing 96 kg.

Mugabe’s lavish fetes have always triggered an uproar from the international community who questioned his luxurious tastes when his people sleep hungry and the economy was in the bin.

Mnangagwa’s government  however declared Mugabe’s birthday February 21st, a public holiday dubbed Robert Gabriel Mugabe Youth Day.

“Who cares about Mugabe now?” said Tendekai Savanhu, a street vendor and avowed opposition supporter. “We don’t want to know what he is doing, this country is better off without him.” Eyewitness News reports.