Wearing a dark suit and tie and leaning on a red, fabric covered podium Mr Mugabe spoke at length and in Shona about the 2008 elections. Suddenly straightening up 40 minutes later Mr Mugabe said: "I want to say this in English." A murmured titter of life ran through the crowd. Mr Mugabe said that there were farms in Mashonaland East, West, Central and in other areas around the country which had been properly designated in accordance with the Land Acquisition Act and were now to be taken. "Let not the original owners of the farms refuse to vacate those farms," he said. "They must vacate those farms," he repeated his words three times.
This then was Mr Mugabe's 85th birthday present to the starving people of Zimbabwe, seven million of whom are receiving international food aid.