International
Mugabe in lavish 92nd b/day celebration amid starvation
Africa’s longest serving President Robert Mugabe celebrated his 92nd birthday with lavish celebrations on Saturday in a region of his country suffering food shortages occasioned by wide-spread drought.
This year’s festivities included concerts, parades and parties in his honour, and reportedly cost $800,000 in the midst of suffering with drought causing food shortages affecting 2.5 million of his people said to be in need of food and aid.
Read also: Zimbabwe newspaper likens Mugabe’s birthday to Jesus’
A few weeks ago, Mugabe declared a “state of disaster” in several rural areas affected by a drought.
“Initial indications were that 1.5 million people were food-insecure with all the 60 rural districts being affected,” Public Works Minister, Saviour Kasukuwere, said in a statement in early February.
“Overall, the food-insecure population has since risen to 2.44 million — 26% of the population.”
According to statistics by the World Bank, over 72% of the country live in poverty, with over a fifth of the population in extreme poverty.
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