Lavish bash marks Mugabe's 85th birthday

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is celebrating his 85th birthday with a lavish bash while the new unity government tries to raise funds to rescue the country’s collapsed economy.

But Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has decided not to attend the celebrations in Chinhoyi, 60 miles (100 kilometres) north-west of Harare today.

Tsvangirai’s spokesman James Maridadi says the longtime opposition leader considers the event a “private” affair of Mugabe’s part.

The 250,000-bash is taking place the day after Zimbabwe failed to secure a 2 billion economic rescue package from neighbouring countries.

Zimbabwe faces the world’s highest official inflation rate, a hunger crisis and a cholera epidemic that has killed nearly 4,000 people since August.