I will never quit politics — Zimbabwe -president Robert Mugabe said At his 93rd birthday bash

The world's oldest leader said he has no plans
to step down in his lavish birthday party.

By Eric Patrick 


Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has marked his 
93rd birthday with lavish celebrations, addressing his own 
mortality in a speech, but showing no signs of quitting politics.

Thousands of government supporters, some wearing 
clothing adorned with Mugabe's image in younger days, converged in Matabeleland for Saturday's birthday bash 
and show of strength for the ruling ZANU-PF party.

Also wearing a multi-coloured suit emblazoned with his 
own image and dark glasses, Mugabe, the world's oldest
 head of state, told the crowd he had no intention of 
stepping down.

"People who are busy forming their own groupings saying
 'Mr Mugabe must go'. I ask myself where should I go?" Mugabe, who has been in power for 37 years, said in a 
speech that was broadcast on state radio and television.

Speaking for over an hour, Mugabe said he would not
 impose his successor and that if ZANU-PF party felt he should retire, it would hold an extraordinary congress to choose a new leader.

"Others are saying 'President, choose a successor before
 you retire'. Is that not imposition? Me imposing someone 
on the party? No, I don't want that," Mugabe said.

"This is an issue for the congress to choose. We can have 
an extraordinary congress if the president retires, but you
 said I should be your candidate in the next election."

His hands gripping the podium, Mugabe spoke slowly. 
He said that at times he felt alone, but that he has a
 "mission"and "mandate" as Zimbabwe's leader and
 appealed for the ruling party to overcome its divisions.

"It's not always easy to predict that, although you are 
alive this year, you will be alive next year," he said.

"It does not matter how healthy you might feel. The
 decision that you continue to live and enjoy life is that
 of one personality we call the Almighty God."

Guests at the birthday party enjoyed pieces of a cake
weighing 93kg, according to party organiser Kudzai
 Chipanga.The cake was shaped like the continent of 
Africa because "everyone in Africa loves him", said Chipanga.

ZANU-PF officials said hundreds of thousands of dollars
 were spent on the birthday bash at a school in Matobo, just outside Zimbabwe's second-largest city, Bulawayo.

But critics said the money should have been used for 
other priorities amid a deepening economic crisis .

Zimbabwe's economy is set to contract by 2.5 percent 
this year, according to the International Monetary Fund .

More than 80 percent of the workforce scrape a living in 
the informal sector, while the government has failed to pay civil servants' salaries on time since June.

Mugabe celebrated his actual birthday on February 21 with a

smaller cake-cutting ceremony.