HARARE – Former President Robert Mugabe celebrated his 95th birthday at his palatial home in Harare on Thursday.

In three pictures released on Twitter by one of Mugabe’s former ministers, Saviour Kasukuwere, Mugabe posed for a family portrait with his wife, Grace, his daughter Bona and son Robert Jnr.

In another, the man who led Zimbabwe for 37 years sits alone, impeccably dressed in a blue suit. He is also seen standing next to his wife, who wore a yellow dress and white doek.

There was no sign of their youngest son, Bellarmine Chatunga.

Mugabe looked gaunt in the images – his first known pictures since President Emmerson Mnangagwa told a Zanu PF rally in November last year that Mugabe, then undergoing treatment in Singapore, was “unable to walk”.

Mugabe was ousted in a military coup in November 2017, and Mnagagwa installed in his place.

The economy has got worse under Mnangagwa, whose government is facing the threat of civil unrest amid a brutal crackdown on labour unions and opposition activists by security forces.

Mugabe’s birthday is now a public holiday in Zimbabwe, known as the National Youth Day.

Birthday boy ... President Mugabe poses for a picture at his home on 95th birthday
Birthday boy … President Mugabe poses for a picture at his home on 95th birthday
On his two feet … President Mugabe and his wife Grace on his 95th birthday
On his two feet … President Mugabe and his wife Grace on his 95th birthday