4000 portions of caviar and 8000 lobsters at Mugabe 85th birthday bash

Harare, Feb.28 (ANI): Zimbabwe maybe facing a huge financial crisis, but this hasn't stopped its President, Robert Mugabe, from ordering caviar and lobsters for guests attending his 85th birthday celebrations.

According to The Telegraph, Mugabe and his supporters have spent the past week celebrating his birthday, which culminates on Saturday.

Mugabe is today set to enjoy a huge public feast and concert at Chinhoyi, about 50 miles west of Harare.

The lavish event promises to be a party fit for a king. It is reported to include 2,000 bottles of champagne, 8,000 lobsters, 100kg of prawns and 4,000 portions of caviar.

Whilst Mugabe feasts, half of his population survives on just a meal a day in a country battling hyper-inflation and a worsening cholera epidemic.

Controversially, Mugabe's main political rival Tsvangirai has said he will attend, believing that this provides his best hope of bringing real change from within government.

Last year, Tsvangirai railed against Mugabe's birthday celebration as "a gathering of the satisfied few" in a nation crippled by food shortages.

His spokesman James Maridadi said of today's bash: "Morgan Tsvangirai was invited and he is attending.

"It is courteous on (the part of) his party and it is in the spirit of national unity," the spokesman added.

As leader of the opposition, Tsvangirai faced intimidation, physical assault and at one stage was charged with plotting to kill Mugabe.

However, in February he was sworn in as the country's Prime Minister.

The Mugabe birthday celebrations will reportedly cost 350,000 pounds - amid suggestions it would take more than three billion pounds to rehabilitate Zimbabwe's collapsed health, social and education systems. (ANI)