ROBERT Mugabe can expect some good luck in 2012.

The Zimbabwean president turns 88 on Tuesday - a number that symbolises fortune and good luck in Chinese culture.

And a number of festivities have been planned, including a beauty pageant, a football tournament and the launch of a clothing label inspired by him.

Events linked to the celebration of the country's number one citizen are estimated to cost about US$2-million.

This year's celebrations will be held in the diamond-rich Manicaland province of Mutare, Zimbabwe's fourth-largest city.

The country's top musicians will line up for an all-night music show, called a Pungwe, a Shona word meaning a spiritual gathering. The final of a football tournament that started a month ago will also take place on the day.

In addition, there will be a pageant, with about 30 aspirant beauty queens from across Zimbabwe battling it out for the crown.

Zanu-PF's secretary for youth affairs, Absolom Sikhosana, said they were looking forward to the festivities.

"Our youth are looking forward to this day because it is theirs. Everything is now in place. We are going to be celebrating our president's legacy in Manicaland," he said.

But not everyone is happy, with civic organisations and opposition parties criticising the over-the-top festivities.

Zimbabweans have organised a chain of protests around the world against it, with reports that demonstrations will be held in the US and European capitals on Tuesday.

Mugabe will also be preparing for elections at a time when there is growing talk about his failing health and loss of grip on his party .

Last week, a leader of the opposition and MDC leader, Professor Welshman Ncube, told a rally that Mugabe was a liability and unfit to become president for another term.

"With all the poverty, the hunger, what do you think Mugabe can do as an old man who sleeps all the time that he could not do as a young revolutionary?

"Why do you think the same man who has destroyed the country in 30 years can mend it in 2013?

"The only thing he is qualified for is to go back to Zvimba and play with his grandchildren," said Ncube.