Zimbabwe renames Harare Airport after Robert Mugabe

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on October 3, 2017 in Pretoria, South Africa. The Harare International Airport has been renamed Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport. PHOTO | PHILL MAGAKOE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The president unveiled a plaque at the newly named Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport on Thursday.
  • The refurbishment of the airport has been condemned by opposition figures as a waste of money.
  • The Opposition says the renaming of the airport "marks a new low in the political and aviation history of Zimbabwe".

HARARE

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe attended a ceremony renaming Harare International Airport in his honour on Thursday, as his sacking of the vice president fuelled speculation over his succession plans.

The 93-year-old president unveiled a plaque at the newly named Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, located 15 kilometres outside the centre of the capital.

RENAMED

The refurbishment of the airport has been condemned by opposition figures as a waste of money.

Activists from Mugabe's ZANU-PF party had campaigned for it to be renamed, threatening to bar the transport minister from the president's birthday celebrations in February unless their demands were met.

"Thank you most sincerely for the honour bestowed on me. It is indeed a great gesture," Mugabe said at the ceremony at the airport, which first opened in 1957.

SUCCESSION

On Monday Mugabe sacked vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa, formerly one of his closest allies, in a dramatic move that appeared to open the way for his wife Grace to succeed him in office.

Mnangagwa has fled Zimbabwe and vowed to fight back against Mugabe, potentially triggering political instability in a country where the economy has collapsed over the last 20 years.

Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since its independence from Britain in 1980, and is accused of holding onto power through brutal repression of dissent, election rigging and corruption.

The president's birthday has recently been declared a public holiday, while a $1billion Robert Mugabe University is being planned, and many buildings and roads across the country are named after him.

‘WASTEFUL PROJECTS’

The opposition MDC party has accused the president of spending money on wasteful projects. The country is grappling with an estimated unemployment rate of more than 90 per cent.

The party said the renaming of the airport "marks a new low in both the political and aviation history of Zimbabwe".

"Robert Mugabe is fully determined to take the country down with him," it said.

"The State has been virtually captured by Robert Mugabe and his wife."

Mugabe, who is in increasingly frail health, is due to stand in elections again next year and has given no indication when he will retire.