Furore over Mugabe Day

A proposal by Zanu-PF to declare President Robert Mugabe's birthday a  public holiday has attracted widespread condemnation from opposition parties, who accused the ruling party of seeking to abuse State resources to idolize its 91 year old leader, instead of addressing the economic meltdown.

The opposition parties yesterday said introducing a new public holiday would further cripple the economy, as industry would be obliged to shut down.

MDC-T spokesperson Obert Gutu said such bootlicking had no place in a democratic Zimbabwe.