EU renews asset freeze, travel ban on Mugabe

The European Union (EU) has renewed sanctions against President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, his wife, Grace, and the country.

The European Union official journal published a notice to this effect on Friday, saying the ban on the nation and its first family remains active for another year till 2016.

The EU also placed a travel ban and asset freeze on the 27-year-long president and his wife, who has recently been tipped to succeed him.

“The restrictive measures should be renewed until February 20, 2016,” the notice read.

“The application of the travel ban and asset freeze should be maintained for two persons.”

The EU had imposed a ban on Mugabe for his refusal to allow its observers examine the Zimbabwean election in 2002.

Mugabe, alongside 94 members of his government, were declared persona non gratae while the assets they held there were frozen.

Despite ban, Mugabe is allowed to attend certain events hosted in any European country, as he was in Italy in 2005 for Pope John Paul II’s burial and attended a UN summit in the continent in 2008.

Zimbabwe is set to celebrate his 91st birthday on Saturday, with an expected guest of 20,000 people.

Though the UN says one in three children in Zimbabwe is stunted due to hunger, Mugabe would be serving elephant’s meat at a birthday party priced at over N200 million.