CHINHOYI , Zimbabwe ( CNN ) -- Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was celebrating his 85th birthday with a lavish all-day party Saturday despite the fact that the country is gripped by an economic and health crisis . President Robert Mugabe and his wife , Grace , attend a cake-cutting ceremony for his birthday Saturday . Mugabe 's ZANU-PF party said it raised at least $ 250,000 to hold the party in Mugabe 's hometown of Chinhoyi , about 120 kilometers ( 75 miles ) outside of the capital , Harare . Critics of the president say the country is desperate for that amount of money to be spent instead on its citizens , who are suffering from a cholera outbreak , food shortages , and spiraling hyperinflation . On Friday , Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai visited a hospital 's closed intensive care unit that he said needed $ 30,000 to resume operating . During the celebrations , Mugabe announced that his controversial land reform would not be reversed . The program is designed to have white-owned farms given to blacks , and there have been violent seizures of such farms since the program began in 2000 . Watch Mugabe 's birthday bash » . He emphasized that the country 's `` indigenization program '' -- which forces all major foreign companies operating in Zimbabwe to have at least 51 percent black ownership -- will be carried out . It began last year and has n't been implemented yet . Mugabe 's birthday falls on February 21 but his party loyalists postponed the celebrations as they were raising money for the event . `` I think it is going to be a great day for the legend and icon whose birthday we are celebrating today here , '' said Mugabe 's nephew Patrick Zhuwawo , one of the fund-raisers for the birthday . `` The country might be having problems , but we need to have a day to honor the sacrifices the president has made for this country . '' What do you think about the celebrations ? Zhuwawo said about 100 beasts would be slaughtered for the birthday bash . iReport.com : What do you think about Mugabe 's lavish party ? Mugabe also invited schoolchildren from around the country to attend the party , being held at Chinhoyi University . The farming town of Chinhoyi is usually quiet , but Saturday 's event has changed everything . Cars with Mugabe 's supporters could be seen hooting and some ZANU-PF supporters sang Mugabe 's praises . A banner in Chinhoyi read , `` Age ai n't nothing but a number . '' Mugabe invited Tsvangirai , his new partner in a power-sharing government , but a Tsvangirai spokesman said the opposition party leader turned it down . He said it is political party function , with most of the attendees being ZANU-PF elite . As the prime minister , Tsvangirai is not obligated to attend , the spokesman said . The spokesman would not acknowledge whether Tsvangirai had initially agreed to attend , but it was widely reported in Zimbabwean media that he had agreed to do so . `` Mr. Tsvangirai has other commitments , as far as I know , '' said Nelson Chamisa , a spokesman for Tsvangirai 's Movement for Democratic Change . Tsvangirai last year said Mugabe 's birthday party was `` a gathering of the satisfied few . '' But at that point , he and the president were preparing to face off in a hotly contested presidential election . As Saturday 's celebrations began in a carnival atmosphere , just less than a kilometer ( 0.62 miles ) away stood a deserted Chinhoyi government hospital -- a reflection of the country 's dire health situation . A few nurses are attending to patients . `` There are no medicines . These patients have no option but to come here , but there is nothing we can do , '' said one nurse at the hospital . On Friday Tsvangirai visited Harare Hospital , one of the country 's biggest , and said its intensive care unit will need $ 30,000 in order to start operating again after a funding shortage . Once a darling of Zimbabwe , Mugabe is blamed for driving the country into a meltdown . A cholera epidemic that broke out in August has since hit every corner of the country , killing 3,731 people and infecting nearly 80,000 , according to the World Health Organization , which quoted Zimbabwe 's Ministry of Health . The preventable disease has spread through Zimbabwe 's 10 provinces through lack of access to clean water , faulty sewage systems , and uncollected refuse , according to Medecins Sans Frontieres ( Doctors Without Borders ) , which released a report this month on the outbreak . The problems , MSF said , are `` clear symptoms of the breakdown in infrastructure resulting from Zimbabwe 's political and economic meltdown . '' On Sunday , Tsvangirai appealed to the international community to help Zimbabwe 's crippled economy , saying it would take $ 5 billion to stabilize the country . The cholera outbreak has worsened Zimbabwe 's economic crisis . Failed government policies and an acute food shortage because of years of poor agricultural production and widespread corruption have ravaged the currency of Zimbabwe , which has the world 's highest inflation rate . CNN 's Nkepile Mabuse contributed to this report .
Mugabe 's ZANU-PF raised $ 250,000 in order to hold the party . NEW : At party Mugabe said controversial land reform would not be reversed . Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai turned down invitation to party , official said . Zimbabwe is struggling to cope with a cholera epidemic due to funding shortages .