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Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe celebrated his 89th birthday on Thursday, remaining Africa's eldest statesman and becoming the continent's third longest serving leader. At a party hosted by his office on Wednesday, Mugabe said he had been tasked by God to lead the county and would not backtrack on the "divine task." "In my small way, this is the task the Lord might have wanted me to fulfil among my people and as I carry the burden of fulfilling it, it being a divine task, I read it as a bidding of God; a commandment that this is how you serve your nation," he was quoted by The Herald as having told his officers. However, he disclosed that he was getting lonelier in advanced age as he continued to see his peers and relatives dying. There were reports Wednesday saying hundreds of Zimbabwe children of freedom fighters would Thursday walk 89 kilometers from Zanu PF Headquarters in Harare to Bindura, a town in Mashonaland Central province to signify Mugabe's 89th birthday. The national spokesperson of Children of Zimbabwe Freedom Fighters Liberty Bizure was quoted by ZBC News as saying that Mugabe's leadership had transformed many people's lives in and out of the country's borders as he is a true pan-African leader who has strongly stood for black emancipation. "His life is worth celebrating through the 89 km walk signifying the 89 years he has spent,"Bizure said. Mugabe, who was born in 1924, turns 89 today. Meanwhile, state-owned broadcasting stations Thursday continued to offer their congratulations to Mugabe on attaining 89 and playing music which praises him. The Feb. 21 Movement, which comprises youths, will host another party for him in early March in the mining town of Bindura, about 90 km north of Harare. Mugabe is currently leading a power-sharing government following inconclusive elections in 2008 and will be seeking a new five-year mandate in fresh elections scheduled for 2013. Of the living leaders on the continent, only Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea and Jose Eduardo dos Santos of Angola have served longer than him, both having swept to power in 1979.