WE wish we could say we’re surprised at the lavish US$1-million birthday party thrown for Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in that country on Saturday. In fact, the things that Mr Mugabe does these days are no longer startling, given his record over the past decade.

For here is a man who, after winning world respect as a freedom fighter, and also taking a morally decent stand against the abhorrent system of apartheid in his country, has stained his presidency by morphing into a despot.

Readers old enough will recall the pride we all felt here in Jamaica when the flag of independent Zimbabwe was raised for the first time on April 18, 1980. That historic moment was even more emotional for us because our own Mr Robert ‘Nesta’ Marley was there in Harare, at the invitation of Mr Mugabe, to perform, as the Jamaican reggae superstar’s songs served as motivation for the freedom fighters.

At the time, President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania told Mr Mugabe that he had inherited “the jewel of Africa”, and there was much hope of a new dawn for the black majority country, formerly known as Rhodesia.

Indeed, up to the mid-1990s, Mr Mugabe held our respect, so much so that on September 5, 1996 he was conferred with an honorary Order of Jamaica “in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the fight for liberation and the overthrow of apartheid in Southern Africa, and his distinct leadership in the pursuit of freedom and human development throughout the African continent”.

Since then, however, Mr Mugabe’s presidency has been marked by hyperinflation, an increase in poverty, election rigging, political intimidation, threats against free speech, and a general assault on democracy.

Based on that sordid record, this newspaper has, in the past, urged the Jamaican Government to revoke that award. For it is our view that anyone whose credibility and integrity are so damaged should not have the privilege to hold the title ‘The Right Honourable’.

The Jamaican Government at the time saw no reason to strip Mr Mugabe of the award, even as the Administration made clear that it did not support what he was doing in his country.

They will have to live with that decision, especially now with him throwing another excessive party to mark his 91st birthday.

Agence France Press (AFP) has reported that elephants were slaughtered for the feast and seven huge cakes were on display in one of the tents at the luxury hotel in the famed Victoria Falls resort.

“One giant 91-kilo (approximately 200 lbs) creation depicted the spectacular Victoria Falls,” the AFP report said.

Quite correctly, the Opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) described the celebrations as “obscene”. Mr Obert Gutu, the MDC spokesman, pointed out that the money used to fund the festivities could have been put to better use rehabilitating collapsed public hospitals, clinics and schools in the province where Mr Mugabe’s ostentation was thrown into the faces of Zimbabwe’s poor.

We are not denying Mr Mugabe the joy of celebrating his birthday. However, as the leader of a country with serious economic, social and political problems, he needs to display better judgement.