Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has ruled out retirement as he looks forward to his 93rd birthday next Tuesday.

There had been calls for him to retire due to old age.

According to him, he has no “acceptable” successor in place, hence he won’t give up power.

“The call to step down must come from my party, my party at congress, my party at central committee,” Mugabe said in excerpts from a radio broadcast that will air this week.

“But then what do you see? It’s the opposite. They want me to stand for elections.”

“The majority of the people feel that there is no replacement, a successor who to them is acceptable, as acceptable as I am,” he added.

Mugabe, who has kept an iron grip on power since Zimbabwe declared independence in 1980, has repeatedly denied reports of health problems.