President Mugabe says he has divine task to rule

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has claimed has a divine task to rule and pledged to carry it out without backtracking as he celebrated his 89th birth day on Wednesday.

The veteran ruler, who has ruled the southern African country since its independence from Britain in 1980, was born on February 21, 1924.

For almost a month, state media has been carrying congratulatory messages from parastatals and politicians linked to President Mugabe’s Zanu PF.

Some have gone to the extent of equating him to Jesus.

The climax of the celebrations will be a traditional feast set for March 2 organised by a communist Soviet Union style youth organisation called the 21st February Movement.

Speaking at a party organised by staff from his office where he also received 89 cows from Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono, President Mugabe said he was appointed by God to lead the country.

“In my small way, this is the task the Lord might have wanted me to fulfill among my people and as I carry the burden of fulfilling it, it being a divine task, I read it as a bidding of God,” he said.

Mugabe said: “It is He, our Creator, who is responsible for the fact that I am 89, and true when you get to that stage you cannot avoid thinking that yesterday when I was younger we were many.”

He said: “Some have dropped off. Where are they gone? The Lord has chosen that they go. The Lord has chosen that I remain. “Why it is that all my friends are gone and my relatives are gone and I continue to linger on?”

Vice President Joice Mujuru caused a stir last month when she said those challenging President Mugabe were wasting time because he was anointed to lead.

“People are wasting their time by opposing President Mugabe,” she told a church meeting.

She said it was prophesied way back in 1934, when he was only 10 years old, that he was going to lead this country.

She said: “How can a normal person challenge such a leader? There is nothing wrong in people having ambitions and discussing political issues with their wives.

The minister said those opposing Mr Mugabe “should stop tampering with the presidency, because it is sacrosanct’’.

“These positions come from God, they do not just come,” she said.