Harare, Zimbabwe ? President Robert Mugabe marked Zimbabwe’s 26th anniversary of independence with threats.

The 82-year-old leader called out opponents such as Morgan Tsvangirai in a rambling speech Tuesday on state television.

“Anyone who dares go against the law … dares lead any group of persons to embark on a campaign of violence or terrorist activity, will be inviting the full wrath of the law to descend mercilessly on him and, or on those who follow him,” Mugabe said.

The country faces a deepening economic crisis and a rapidly widening gap between the rich elite and poor majority. Unemployment exceeds 70 percent, inflation is more than 900 percent, and the country faces acute shortages of food, gasoline and other imports.

Critics blame Zimbabwe’s economic woes on the seizure of thousands of white-owned commercial farms for redistribution to black Zimbabweans since 2,000.

Roman Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube of Bulawayo, a leading Mugabe critic, says at least 10,000 people in the country have died of hunger and malnutrition-related diseases.