By Own Reporter
HARARE – President Emmerson Mnangagwa has declared September 15, his
birthday, a public holiday to be known as Munhumutapa Day.
The new public holiday was gazetted through Statutory Instrument 148 of 2026
under the Public Holidays and Prohibition of Business Act (Declaration of Public
Holiday Notice, 2026). According to the statutory instrument, September 15 will be
observed as a public holiday every year.
“It is hereby declared that the 15th of September every year henceforth shall be a
public holiday to be known as Munhumutapa Day,” the notice reads.
The declaration mirrors a similar move made in 2017, when former President Robert
Mugabe’s birthday, February 21, was declared a public holiday. The day was
gazetted as Robert Gabriel Mugabe National Youth Day through Statutory
Instrument 143 of 2017, following intense lobbying by the Zanu PF Youth League.
Mugabe was born on February 21, 1924.
At the time, the decision drew sharp criticism from opposition parties. The MDC
described the declaration as “an insult to Zimbabweans,” arguing that Mugabe was
“not a demigod” and that the country already had a Heroes’ holiday to commemorate
its liberation heroes. The party said it would scrap the holiday if elected into power.
Munhumutapa Day is allegedly intended to commemorate the legacy of the pre-
colonial Mutapa Empire and its contribution to Zimbabwe’s history and identity.
The day coincides with President Mnangagwa’s birthday, with this year marking the
third edition of the commemorations, to be held in Mvurwi, Mashonaland Central
Province, with more than 30,000 youths expected to attend.
