No Fanfare As Robert Mugabe Marks Birthday For The First Time In 37 Years As A Private Citizen

BOBOJAY February 21, 2018 0

Robert Mugabe, the erstwhile Zimbabwean President, who turns 94 today, marks his first birthday in 37 years as a private citizen.

 

And though the administration of his successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa, had declared the day a national holiday, the celebration lacked the national fanfare that greeted his birthdays since he assumed office as President on December 31, 1987 and until he stepped down on November 21, 2017, Daily Nation reports.

 

Before he became the president, he was the prime minister for seven years — from April 18, 1980 to December 30, 1987.

As president, Mugabe sometimes celebrated his birthdays wearing suits decorated with his own images at parties that included lavish feasts.

 

But following his ousting in November after a brief military takeover, this year’s festivities were restrained.

 

As reported by local media, other than a solitary editorial proclaiming the day in the government-run Herald newspaper, there was little in the way of official fanfare.

“None of the ministries and agencies that previously clamoured to mark the day even acknowledged it this year, and the flurry of tributes that filled newspaper pull-outs each year was also absent,” Daily Nation reports.

 

And though government offices and schools were closed for the first annual “Robert Mugabe National Youth Day,” which was declared a week after his forced resignation on November 21, 2017, much civilian life continued as normal.

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