{"id":4475,"date":"2019-02-24T17:25:49","date_gmt":"2019-02-24T17:25:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.com\/zimbabwe\/?p=4475"},"modified":"2019-02-24T17:25:49","modified_gmt":"2019-02-24T17:25:49","slug":"mugabe-blasts-ed-army-for-killing-protesters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.cc\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/mugabe-blasts-ed-army-for-killing-protesters","title":{"rendered":"Mugabe blasts ED, army for killing protesters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Song and dance bellowed from the Blue Roof mansion in the usually quiet upmarket Borrowdale suburb, as hundreds of invited guests on Saturday attended the birthday party for former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe.<\/p>\n

The guests were celebrating the former statesman\u2019s 95th birthday at a private ceremony at his lavish Harare home. The event was held under the theme \u201ca living legend\u201d.<\/p>\n

There were strictly no children allowed at the function, which had a black and gold dress code.<\/p>\n

Mugabe\u2019s children organised the birthday party, which was strictly by invite.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

His eldest daughter, Bona, and son-in law, Simba Chikore, were the main organisers. Bona is said to have put the guest list together.<\/p>\n

Notable among the guests was Gideon Gono, the former central bank governor and the Mugabe\u2019s personal banker.<\/p>\n

Family members, among them his wife, Grace, wished the 95-year-old Mugabe a long life.<\/p>\n

During a short speech at the event, Grace said she would stand by her husband until the very end.<\/p>\n

Mugabe, in his speech, criticised the heavy-handedness of the military against citizens under President Emmerson Mnangagwa\u2019s government.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people think that being a leader means killing people and beating people, but that is not the way. Even the fallen heroes would not approve of that,\u201d said Mugabe.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are hearing there are graves that have been created by the army when they kill people. It is not the task of the army to lead the people with guns. Let us not be killers of our own people,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Human rights groups said 17 people died last month from protests that broke out linked to a fuel price hike.<\/p>\n

Mugabe said the actions of the leaders would soon come back to haunt them.<\/p>\n

\u201cSoldiers should take their rightful place and fight when the situation demands. They should be protectors of people and I am not scared to say it,\u201d said Mugabe.<\/p>\n

Guests were served an array of local and foreign delicacies by chefs hired for the event.<\/p>\n

The menu included sirloin, pig on the spit, grilled chicken and salads, along with a range of desserts.<\/p>\n

The party was scheduled to go up until late into the night, having kicked off at 2pm.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Song and dance bellowed from the Blue Roof mansion in the usually quiet upmarket Borrowdale suburb, as hundreds of invited guests on Saturday attended the birthday party for former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe. The guests were celebrating the former statesman\u2019s 95th birthday at a private ceremony at his lavish Harare home. The event was held […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":4481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,35,12],"tags":[333,55,31,28,167],"class_list":{"0":"post-4475","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-homepage-english","9":"category-policy","10":"tag-crackdown","11":"tag-government","12":"tag-mnangagwa","13":"tag-mugabe","14":"tag-protesters"},"yoast_head":"\nMugabe blasts ED, army for killing protesters - zimbabwe<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zimbabwe\/all-news\/mugabe-blasts-ed-army-for-killing-protesters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mugabe blasts ED, army for killing protesters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Song and dance bellowed from the Blue Roof mansion in the usually quiet upmarket Borrowdale suburb, as hundreds of invited guests on Saturday attended the birthday party for former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe. 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