Mugabe prepares for lavish 85th birthday bash as Zimbabwe starves

Harare, Feb.11 (ANI): President Robert Mugabe is planning a lavish 85th birthday feast, even as millions of Zimbabweans starve.

According to The Sun, Mugabe has demanded 2,000 bottles of Moet and Chandon or 1961 Bollinger champagne, 8,000 lobsters and 4,000 portions of caviar.

He wants 8,000 boxes of Ferrero Rocher chocs, 500 bottles of Johnnie Walker whisky, 100 kilograms of prawns, 3,000 ducks and 3,000 chocolate cakes.

Mugabe has demanded international supporters send him cash gifts of around 25,000 dollars to celebrate.

The tabloid says that Zimbabwe firms will be blocked from doing business if they fail to deliver.

It is expected that hundreds of cattle will be slaughtered for the February 28 bash - as seven million Zimbabweans rely on food aid to survive.

A total of 94 per cent of the population are without a job, money is worthless and inflation rampant. Cholera is widespread and one in ten kids dies before the age of five.

Britain's Shadow Foreign Secretary William Hague last night attacked the banquet plans.

"To indulge in such decadence, while the people of Zimbabwe are dying of starvation and the country lies in ruins is a testimony to the dictatorship of Robert Mugabe," he said. (ANI)