•In 2014, when Mugabe celebrated his 90th birthday, his staff presented him with a one-tonne gold- and diamond-studded stone chair that took two years to make.
•More than 90 cattle were reportedly slaughtered for that bash.
•Mugabe was presented with a set of limited-edition gold coins to mark his 89th birthday in 2013.
•On his 89th, the Reserve Bank governor presented him with a gift of 89 cows.
•Every year Mugabe traditionally releases a number of colourful balloons, equal to his age, as part of the festivities. In 2012, a carpenter was arrested and taken to court after he remarked that he was surprised how, at his advanced age, the president could have had the strength to blow up the balloons.
•Mugabe’s 88th birthday cake was in the shape of a crocodile – his totem.
•The state-owned Herald newspaper described Mugabe as “good old wine” in a 16-page supplement dedicated to his 88th birthday.
•On his 87th birthday, he hinted that age was catching up with him but said he was willing to soldier on. “Eighty-seven is only eight plus seven ... My body may get spent but I wish my mind will always be with you,” he said.
•On his 86th, he had a lavish party in Bulawayo. Every year the party is held in a different town.
• For his 85th birthday, held in Chinhoyi, guests feasted on an 85kg birthday cake.
•Mugabe celebrated his 84th birthday in Beitbridge on the border with South Africa, but exiled Zimbabweans protested at the frontier to show their displeasure at his misrule.
• For his 83rd, Mugabe was given a stuffed crocodile by Cabinet ministers, who said it represented his “maturity and wisdom”.
• On his 82nd birthday, 43 National Constitutional Assembly members were arrested for trying to march on Mugabe’s office to demand a new Constitution.
• He celebrated his 80th birthday in his home village in Kutama with thousands of guests. In a televised interview he promised to retire within five years: “I will be here still boxing, writing quite a lot, reading quite a lot and still in politics,” he said. “I won’t leave politics but I will have retired, obviously.