Zimbabwe’s veteran President Robert Mugabe was booed and heckled by opposition lawmakers over the deteriorating economy as he gave his state of the nation address to parliament.

Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) lawmakers questioned his economic policies, jeering as the 91-year-old delivered a policy speech which lasted less than half an hour.

He spoke as the UN confirmed earlier estimates that around 1.5 million Zimbabweans or 16 percent of the country’s population will face hunger later this year and need food aid.

When Mugabe — who has been in power since Zimbabwe’s independence from Britain in 1980 — outlined his government’s plan to improve the economy, one lawmaker yelled at him to admit that “you can’t do much about it”.

Mugabe presented a 10-point plan which included boosting agricultural growth, encouraging private sector investment and fighting graft.

“What about job creation?” one opposition member shouted while another accused Mugabe’s government of “corruption”.

Another parliamentarian shouted “if wishes were horses” while his other opposition legislator screamed “you have utterly failed”.

Read More: AFP