Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday described longtime leader Robert Mugabe as "a senile president with a vituperative wife".

In an end-of-year statement, Tsvangirai urged Zimbabweans to pray for Mugabe, 90, "so that he understands the enormity of the national plight".

The Movement for Democratic Change leader said that Zimbabweans were "living under a heavy cloud of despondency" as job losses and company closures mounted.

He offered an apology for his party's underachievement during the four years of the previous coalition government, claiming that Mugabe's Zanu-PF "stood in the way of everything progressive".

Tsvangirai has had a difficult 2014 following his loss to Mugabe in elections last year.

The former trade unionist's MDC has split once again, with the former secretary general Tendai Biti alleging Tsvangirai had "dictatorial tendencies".

Biti and his supporters have now joined forces with another MDC faction led by Welshman Ncube.

Reports that Tsvangirai and his party are in financial difficulties have not helped his reputation.

Attention has been diverted in recent weeks from the MDC's woes to the infighting within Zanu-PF and the political rise of Mugabe's wife Grace.

Reaction to the opposition leader's statement on Wednesday was lacklustre. "I wonder how many are reading Tsvangirai's statements -- he is wasting his [time]" wrote Twitter user @NyashaMpani.