{"id":2013,"date":"2014-02-24T14:11:59","date_gmt":"2014-02-24T14:11:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=2013"},"modified":"2014-02-24T14:11:59","modified_gmt":"2014-02-24T14:11:59","slug":"we-dont-hate-you-we-only-love-our-country-better-mugabe-tells-british","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/02\/we-dont-hate-you-we-only-love-our-country-better-mugabe-tells-british\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We don’t hate you, we only love our country better,’ Mugabe tells British"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Muagabe<\/a>Robert Mugabe celebrated his 90th birthday yesterday, telling the British: \u2018We don\u2019t hate you; we only love our country better.\u2019<\/p>\n

He showed no signs of rumoured ill health as he released 90 red balloons at a football stadium in the small farming town of Marondera in Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n

\u2018I am made to feel youthful and as energetic as a boy of nine,\u2019 Zimbabwean President Mugabe told more than 45,000 people following his visit to Singapore, where he underwent eye surgery.<\/p>\n

His aides have denied reports that he is suffering from advanced prostate cancer. But speculation about Mugabe\u2019s health has fuelled a succession struggle in the country that he has ruled since 1980.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the crowd for more than hour before walking around the stadium, he said: \u2018God, I can\u2019t thank you enough for that gift of life.\u2019<\/p>\n

Mugabe said his abstinence from alcohol and tobacco kept him fit, but he gave no indication of when he planned to retire. His aides have denied speculation he has been treated for prostate cancer.<\/p>\n

Zimbabwe\u2019s sole ruler since the former Rhodesia gained independence from Britain in 1980, Mugabe is under Western sanctions.<\/p>\n

He denies human rights abuses and election fraud and blames former colonial power Britain for smearing his name.<\/p>\n

‘The British, we don\u2019t hate you, we only love our country better,\u2019 he told the crowd, saying he had received many birthday greetings from compatriots and from foreign leaders including those of China and Russia.<\/p>\n

Mugabe\u2019s age and concerns about his health have fuelled a succession battle inside his ZANU-PF party.<\/p>\n

Vice-President Joice Mujuru leads the field but faces a challenge from Justice Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, a powerful former defence and security minister known as \u2018the Crocodile\u2019.<\/p>\n

He told the crowd he intended to crack down on officials, including cabinet ministers, implicated in corruption and fraud in state companies.<\/p>\n

Mugabe gave his trademark clenched fist salute to those gathered, as he and his 48-year-old wife, Grace, stood at the back of a truck that drove around the stadium.<\/p>\n

Mugabe holds a giant birthday party in a different city each year, to take the festivities around the country.<\/p>\n

He cut a 200lb cake, one of five served, and 90 cows were butchered for the massive party, estimated to cost \u00a3600,000, according to state media.<\/p>\n

Mugabe’s actual birthday was on February 21 but he was away in Singapore for a \u2018cataract operation\u2019 on his left eye, according to his office. He returned to Zimbabwe on Saturday.<\/p>\n

In recent weeks the country has seen allegations of massive corruption in state enterprises at a time when many Zimbabweans are surviving on less than \u00a31.20 a day.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Credit: Daily Mail<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robert Mugabe celebrated his 90th birthday yesterday, telling the British: \u2018We don\u2019t hate you; we only love our country better.\u2019 He showed no signs of rumoured ill health as he released 90 red balloons at a football stadium in the small farming town of Marondera in Zimbabwe. \u2018I am made to feel youthful and as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":2014,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[14],"yoast_head":"\n'We don't hate you, we only love our country better,' Mugabe tells British - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always<\/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:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/02\/we-dont-hate-you-we-only-love-our-country-better-mugabe-tells-british\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'We don't hate you, we only love our country better,' Mugabe tells British - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Robert Mugabe celebrated his 90th birthday yesterday, telling the British: \u2018We don\u2019t hate you; we only love our country better.\u2019 He showed no signs of rumoured ill health as he released 90 red balloons at a football stadium in the small farming town of Marondera in Zimbabwe. \u2018I am made to feel youthful and as […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/02\/we-dont-hate-you-we-only-love-our-country-better-mugabe-tells-british\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-02-24T14:11:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Muagabe-@-90.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"565\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/02\/we-dont-hate-you-we-only-love-our-country-better-mugabe-tells-british\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/02\/we-dont-hate-you-we-only-love-our-country-better-mugabe-tells-british\/\",\"name\":\"'We don't hate you, we only love our country better,' Mugabe tells British - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-02-24T14:11:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-02-24T14:11:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/02\/we-dont-hate-you-we-only-love-our-country-better-mugabe-tells-british\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/02\/we-dont-hate-you-we-only-love-our-country-better-mugabe-tells-british\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/02\/we-dont-hate-you-we-only-love-our-country-better-mugabe-tells-british\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"‘We don’t hate you, we only love our country better,’ Mugabe tells British\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\",\"name\":\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"description\":\"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1\",\"name\":\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/kojo\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'We don't hate you, we only love our country better,' Mugabe tells British - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/02\/we-dont-hate-you-we-only-love-our-country-better-mugabe-tells-british\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"'We don't hate you, we only love our country better,' Mugabe tells British - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","og_description":"Robert Mugabe celebrated his 90th birthday yesterday, telling the British: \u2018We don\u2019t hate you; we only love our country better.\u2019 He showed no signs of rumoured ill health as he released 90 red balloons at a football stadium in the small farming town of Marondera in Zimbabwe. \u2018I am made to feel youthful and as […]","og_url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/02\/we-dont-hate-you-we-only-love-our-country-better-mugabe-tells-british\/","og_site_name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3","article_published_time":"2014-02-24T14:11:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":700,"height":565,"url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Muagabe-@-90.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@citi973","twitter_site":"@citi973","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/02\/we-dont-hate-you-we-only-love-our-country-better-mugabe-tells-british\/","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/02\/we-dont-hate-you-we-only-love-our-country-better-mugabe-tells-british\/","name":"'We don't hate you, we only love our country better,' Mugabe tells British - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-02-24T14:11:59+00:00","dateModified":"2014-02-24T14:11:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/02\/we-dont-hate-you-we-only-love-our-country-better-mugabe-tells-british\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/02\/we-dont-hate-you-we-only-love-our-country-better-mugabe-tells-british\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/02\/we-dont-hate-you-we-only-love-our-country-better-mugabe-tells-british\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"‘We don’t hate you, we only love our country better,’ Mugabe tells British"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/","name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","description":"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1","name":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kojo Akoto Boateng"},"url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/kojo\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2013"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2013\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}