The expensive birthday celebration for the world's oldest leader has come under scrutiny as the country faces drought and hunger. Last year Mugabe's elaborate buffet included elephant. What was on this year's menu?
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Zimbabwe marks Robert Mugabe's 92nd birthday with lavish party
The world's oldest leader celebrated his 92nd birthday with a series of lavish parties. Thousands of ZANU-PF loyalists, foreign dignitaries and members of the public joined in the celebration for the president.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Ufumeli
Let them eat cake!
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is facing censure for a 92nd birthday bash on Saturday, which cost $800,000 (730,000 euros). Critics say the outlandish party was an affront to ordinary citizens as the impoverished country grapples with a severe drought and a struggling economy.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Ufumeli
Multi-tiered cake with gold frosting
Saturday's party was a culmination of a week-long celebration for Mugabe, the world's oldest president, who turned 92 last Sunday. An estimated 50,000 guests feasted on hundreds of kilos of beef and game along with expensive cakes and desserts, while millions face the prospect of starvation.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Ufumeli
Even the card was hyper-inflated
Mugabe was treated to a day of poetry, readings and songs, many of them hailing him as an African icon and a visionary. His party faithful brushed off criticism of the birthday bash, with one spokesman saying it was impossible to put a price on Mugabe's contribution to Zimbabwe's development.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
A brass band for the brass neck
The televised event saw a military band play, while many supporters wore outfits emblazoned with Mugabe's portrait. Ninety-two balloons were let off and many of his African peers took turns to congratulate him.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Ufumeli
Ordinary citizens foot the bill
While Mugabe and his wife Grace enjoyed the celebrations, local media reported that party activists had ordered teachers and villagers in the rural districts of Masvingo - where the party was held - to make cash donations to help pay for it.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Ufumeli
Zimbabwe declared a 'state of disaster'
Masvingo is one of the regions most affected by Zimbabwe's worst drought in 25 years. Officials say 75 percent of the staple maize crop has been destroyed by the parched conditions. Around 3 million people are deemed to be food insecure.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/T. Mukwazhi
Drought takes its toll on vital food sources
The Zimbabwean government recently appealed for $1.6 billion (1.46 billion euros) in international aid to cover food imports after water sources dried up and the national cattle herd was decimated. But, even then Mugabe said he wouldn't accept help if it came with conditions, like recognizing gay marriage.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/A. Ufumeli
No intention of stepping down
Despite presiding over an era of economic decline, hyper-inflation, mass emigration and allegations of human rights abuses, Mugabe is still a popular leader, having won around 60 percent support in the 2013 elections. Photos and painted images of him can be seen all over Zimbabwe.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
92 years old, 36 years in power
Despite his age, Mugabe has remained tight lipped on succession plans. Fighting within his ruling ZANU-PF party has intensified in recent months, over who will eventually replace the country's only ever leader since independence from Britain in 1980.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Ufumeli
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Organizers from the ruling ZANU-PF youth wing said up to 50,000 people would celebrate at President Robert Mugabe's nearly $800,000 (730,000 euros) birthday party near the southeastern city Masvingo, the center of a devastating drought to hit Zimbabwe.
Mugabe let 92 balloons loose at the start of what one of the organizers told the state-run Herald newspaper would be a "top shelf celebration," replete with a giant cake in the form of the Great Zimbabwe ruins and beef and game.
The annual event has been held since 1986 to mark the strongman's birthday, even as the country has descended into economic turmoil. Mugabe's birthdays have become an opportunity for loyalists to show their support and seek favors.
Mugabe's actual birthday was on February 21, which he celebrated with a smaller gala dinner with his family and the country's elite.
The only ruler to run Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, Mugabe has shown no signs he ever plans to step down, even as behind the scenes factions within his party wrangle to come out on top once the world's oldest ruler dies.
The celebrations have been a target of criticism as a drought forced Zimbabwe to declare a state of emergency and three million people face hunger. The country has appealed for nearly $1.5 billion to help pay for grain and other food.
"ZANU-PF should be utterly ashamed of hosting an expensive birthday bash for their aging ruler whilst more than 90 percent of Zimbabweans are wallowing in grinding poverty caused by decades of Robert Mugabe's misrule and mismanagement of the economy," Obert Gutu, a spokesman for the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), said in a statement.
"The money that is being budgeted for this ill-conceived birthday bash should actually be used to import maize to avert the impending starvation in Masvingo province and other parts of the country," he added in Friday's statement.
Opponents and economists argue Zimbabwe's troubles started with a disastrous land reform in 2000, during which white farmers were forcibly evicted and their productive lands confiscated. After the land reform many farms remained underused.
Mugabe's policies caused the economy to tank 50 percent between 1999 and 2008, making what was once a relatively successful African economy largely dysfunctional.