Robert Gabriel Mugabe was a Zimbabwean revolutionary and politician who served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and then as President from 1987 to 2017.
178 Facts About Robert Mugabe
2.
Robert Mugabe reluctantly participated in peace talks in the United Kingdom that resulted in the Lancaster House Agreement, putting an end to the war.
3.
Robert Mugabe's calls for racial reconciliation failed to stem growing white emigration, while relations with Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe African People's Union deteriorated.
4.
Opposition to Robert Mugabe grew, but he was re-elected in 2002,2008, and 2013 through campaigns dominated by violence, electoral fraud, and nationalistic appeals to his rural Shona voter base.
5.
Robert Mugabe was praised as a revolutionary hero of the African liberation struggle who helped free Zimbabwe from British colonialism, imperialism, and white minority rule.
6.
Robert Gabriel Mugabe was born on 21 February 1924 at the Kutama Mission village in Southern Rhodesia's Zvimba District.
7.
Robert Mugabe's father, Gabriel Matibiri, was a carpenter while his mother Bona was a Christian catechist for the village children.
8.
The Jesuits were strict disciplinarians and under their influence Robert Mugabe developed an intense self-discipline, while becoming a devout Catholic.
9.
Robert Mugabe excelled at school, where he was a secretive and solitary child, preferring to read, rather than playing sports or socialising with other children.
10.
Robert Mugabe was taunted by many of the other children, who regarded him as a coward and a mother's boy.
11.
Robert Mugabe subsequently abandoned Bona and their six children and established a relationship with another woman, with whom he had three further offspring.
12.
In 1944, Gabriel returned to Kutama with his three new children, but died shortly after, leaving Robert Mugabe to take financial responsibility for both his three siblings and three half-siblings.
13.
Robert Mugabe later related that despite this exposure to Marxism, his biggest influence at the time were the actions of Mahatma Gandhi during the Indian independence movement.
14.
Robert Mugabe joined a number of inter-racial groups, such as the Capricorn Africa Society, through which he mixed with both black and white Rhodesians.
15.
From 1955 to 1958, Robert Mugabe lived in neighbouring Northern Rhodesia, where he worked at Chalimbana Teacher Training College in Lusaka.
16.
In Northern Rhodesia, he was taken in for a time by the family of Emmerson Mnangagwa, whom Robert Mugabe inspired to join the liberation movement and who would later go on to be President of Zimbabwe.
17.
In 1958, Robert Mugabe moved to Ghana to work at St Mary's Teacher Training College in Takoradi.
18.
Robert Mugabe taught at Apowa Secondary School, at Takoradi, after obtaining his local certification at Achimota College, where he met his first wife, Sally Hayfron.
19.
Ghana had been the first African state to gain independence from European colonial powers and under the leadership of Kwame Nkrumah underwent a range of African nationalist reforms; Robert Mugabe revelled in this environment.
20.
In tandem with his teaching, Robert Mugabe attended the Kwame Nkrumah Ideological Institute in Winneba.
21.
Robert Mugabe later claimed that it was in Ghana that he finally embraced Marxism.
22.
Robert Mugabe began a relationship there with Hayfron who worked at the college and shared his political interests.
23.
In May 1960, Robert Mugabe returned to Southern Rhodesia, bringing Hayfron with him.
24.
In July 1960, Takawira and two other NDP officials were arrested; in protest, Robert Mugabe joined a demonstration of 7,000 people who planned to march from Highfield to the Prime Minister's office in Salisbury.
25.
Robert Mugabe chaired the first NDP congress, held in October 1960, assisted by Chitepo on the procedural aspects.
26.
Robert Mugabe consciously injected emotionalism into the NDP's African nationalism, hoping to broaden its support among the wider population by appealing to traditional cultural values.
27.
Robert Mugabe helped to form the NDP Youth Wing and encouraged the incorporation of ancestral prayers, traditional costume, and female ululation into its meetings.
28.
Robert Mugabe spoke at a number of NDP rallies before the party was banned by the government in December 1961.
29.
Many of its members re-grouped as the Zimbabwe African People's Union several days later, with Robert Mugabe appointed as ZAPU's publicity secretary and general secretary.
30.
Robert Mugabe deemed such conflict a necessary tactic in the overthrow of British colonial dominance and white minority rule.
31.
Robert Mugabe met with colleagues at his house in Salisbury's Highbury district, where he argued that as political demonstrations were simply being banned, it was time to move towards armed resistance.
32.
Robert Mugabe insisted that she take their son back to Ghana, while he decided to return to Southern Rhodesia.
33.
Robert Mugabe was arrested on his return to Southern Rhodesia in December 1963.
34.
Robert Mugabe's trial lasted from January to March 1964, during which he refused to retract the subversive statements that he had publicly made.
35.
Robert Mugabe was first imprisoned at Salisbury Maximum Security Prison, before being moved to the Wha Wha detention centre and then the Sikombela detention centre in Que Que.
36.
Robert Mugabe remained there for eight years, devoting his time to reading and studying.
37.
Robert Mugabe was grief-stricken and requested a leave of absence to visit his wife in Ghana.
38.
Robert Mugabe never forgave the prison authorities for refusing this request.
39.
Claims have circulated among those who knew him at the time that Robert Mugabe was subjected to both physical and mental torture during his imprisonment.
40.
Robert Mugabe's plan was discovered and he was put on trial in January 1969; desperate to avoid a death sentence, he declared that he renounced violence and his previous ideological commitments.
41.
Robert Mugabe denounced Sithole's "treachery" in rejecting ZANU's cause, and the executive removed him as ZANU President in a vote of no confidence, selecting Robert Mugabe as his successor.
42.
Robert Mugabe moved in with his sister Sabina at her home in Highfield township.
43.
Robert Mugabe was intent on joining the ZANU forces and taking part in the guerrilla war, recognising that to secure dominance of ZANU he would have to take command of ZANLA.
44.
In March 1975, Robert Mugabe resolved to leave Rhodesia for Mozambique, ambitious to take control of ZANU's guerrilla campaign.
45.
Machel gave him a house in Quelimane and kept him under partial house arrest, with Robert Mugabe requiring permission to travel.
46.
Robert Mugabe travelled to various ZANLA camps in Mozambique to build support among its officers.
47.
Robert Mugabe remained aloof from the day-to-day military operations of ZANLA, which he entrusted to Tongogara.
48.
Robert Mugabe focused on the propaganda war, making regular speeches and radio broadcasts.
49.
Robert Mugabe sought support from Western nations, visiting Western embassies in Mozambique, and travelled to both Western states like Italy and Switzerland and Marxist-governed states like the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, Vietnam, and Cuba.
50.
Robert Mugabe called for the overthrow of Rhodesia's predominately white government, the execution of Smith and his "criminal gang", the expropriation of white-owned land, and the transformation of Rhodesia into a one-party Marxist state.
51.
For Robert Mugabe, armed struggle was an essential part of the establishment of a new state.
52.
In contrast to other black nationalist leaders like Nkomo, Robert Mugabe opposed a negotiated settlement with Smith's government.
53.
Robert Mugabe was angry with the latter's secret attempts to negotiate with Smith.
54.
Robert Mugabe oversaw the 1979 general election which resulted in Abel Muzorewa, a politically moderate black bishop, being elected Prime Minister of the reconstituted Zimbabwe Rhodesia.
55.
Robert Mugabe refused to attend these London peace talks, opposing the idea of a negotiated rather than military solution to the Rhodesian War.
56.
At the conference the pair were divided in their attitude; Nkomo wanted to present himself as a moderate while Robert Mugabe played up to his image as a Marxist revolutionary, with Carington exploiting this division.
57.
Robert Mugabe agreed to the protection of the white community's privately owned property on the condition that the UK and USgovernments provide financial assistance allowing the Zimbabwean government to purchase much land for redistribution among blacks.
58.
Robert Mugabe was opposed to the idea of a ceasefire, but under pressure from Machel he agreed to it.
59.
Robert Mugabe signed the agreement, but felt cheated, remaining disappointed that he had never achieved a military victory over the Rhodesian forces.
60.
Robert Mugabe settled into a house in Mount Pleasant, a wealthy white-dominated suburb.
61.
Accordingly, during his electoral campaign, Robert Mugabe avoided the use of Marxist and revolutionary rhetoric.
62.
Robert Mugabe insisted that in the election, ZANU would stand as a separate party to ZAPU, and refused Nkomo's request for a meeting.
63.
Robert Mugabe accused the Rhodesian security forces of being responsible for these attacks.
64.
Robert Mugabe regarded the meeting as a British attempt to thwart his electoral campaign.
65.
Robert Mugabe was elected MP for the Salisbury constituency of Highfield.
66.
Robert Mugabe took the oath of office as the newly minted country's first Prime Minister shortly after midnight.
67.
Robert Mugabe gave a speech at Salisbury's Rufaro Stadium announcing that Rhodesia would be renamed "Zimbabwe" and pledged racial reconciliation.
68.
Soames aided Robert Mugabe in bringing about an orderly transition of power; for this Robert Mugabe remained grateful, describing Soames as a good friend.
69.
Robert Mugabe moved into the Premier's residence in Salisbury, which he left furnished in the same style as Smith had left it.
70.
Robert Mugabe employed North Korean architects to design Heroes' Acre, a monument and complex in western Harare to commemorate the struggle against minority rule.
71.
Robert Mugabe's government continued to make regular pronouncements about converting Zimbabwe into a socialist society, but did not take concrete steps in that direction.
72.
In contrast to Robert Mugabe's talk of socialism, his government's budgetary policies were conservative, operating within a capitalist framework and emphasising the need for foreign investment.
73.
In office, Robert Mugabe sought a gradual transformation away from capitalism and tried to build upon existing state institutions.
74.
Under Robert Mugabe's leadership, there was a massive expansion in education and health spending.
75.
In 1986, Robert Mugabe became chair of the Non-Aligned Movement, a position that he retained until 1989.
76.
Robert Mugabe initially emphasised racial reconciliation and he was keen to build a good relationship with white Zimbabweans.
77.
Robert Mugabe hoped to avoid a white exodus and tried to allay fears that he would nationalise white-owned property.
78.
Robert Mugabe's government had pledged support for the African National Congress and other anti-apartheid forces within South Africa, but did not allow them to use Zimbabwe as a base for their military operations.
79.
Tekere was acquitted of murder; however, Robert Mugabe dropped him from his cabinet.
80.
Robert Mugabe was outraged by this result, lambasting white Zimbabweans for not repenting "in any way" by continuing to support Smith and other white politicians who had committed "horrors against the people of Zimbabwe".
81.
Robert Mugabe had previously offered the position to Nkomo, who had turned it down in favour of becoming Minister of Home Affairs.
82.
Robert Mugabe gave ZAPU four cabinet seats, but Nkomo demanded more.
83.
In January 1981, Robert Mugabe demoted Nkomo in a cabinet reshuffle; the latter warned that this would anger ZAPU supporters.
84.
Robert Mugabe cited this as evidence that ZAPU were plotting a coup, an allegation that Nkomo denied.
85.
The Bishop of Bulawayo accused Robert Mugabe of overseeing a project of systematic starvation.
86.
Robert Mugabe had the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe suppressed.
87.
Margaret Thatcher's UK government was aware of the killings but remained silent on the matter, cautious not to anger Robert Mugabe and threaten the safety of white Zimbabweans.
88.
In October 1983, Robert Mugabe attended the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in New Delhi, where no participating states mentioned the Gukurahundi.
89.
Robert Mugabe then appointed Enos Nkala as the new police minister.
90.
The main opposition party in that election were the Zimbabwe Unity Movement, launched in April 1989 by Tekere; although a longstanding friend of Robert Mugabe, Tekere accused him of betraying the revolution and establishing a dictatorship.
91.
Robert Mugabe had long hoped to convert Zimbabwe into a one-party state, but in 1990 he officially "postponed" these plans as both Mozambique and many Eastern Bloc states transitioned from one-party states to multi-party republics.
92.
That year, Robert Mugabe pledged himself to free market economics and accepted a structural adjustment programme provided by the International Monetary Fund.
93.
Robert Mugabe's secret revealed, Mugabe decided to hold a much-publicised wedding.
94.
Robert Mugabe had failed to satisfy popular expectations in education, health, land reform, and employment.
95.
Yet all the while Robert Mugabe continued to believe in his own greatness.
96.
Robert Mugabe increasingly blamed the country's economic problems on Western nations and the white Zimbabwean minority, who still controlled most of its commercial agriculture, mines, and manufacturing industry.
97.
Robert Mugabe called on supporters "to strike fear in the hearts of the white man, our real enemy", and accused his black opponents of being dupes of the whites.
98.
Robert Mugabe revived the regular use of revolutionary rhetoric and sought to re-assert his credentials as an important revolutionary leader.
99.
Robert Mugabe developed a growing preoccupation with homosexuality, lambasting it as an "un-African" import from Europe.
100.
Robert Mugabe described gay people as being "guilty of sub-human behaviour", and of being "worse than dogs and pigs".
101.
Robert Mugabe began to believe that there was a "gay mafia" and that all of his critics were homosexuals.
102.
Critics accused Robert Mugabe of using homophobia to distract attention from the country's problems.
103.
In 1996, Robert Mugabe was appointed chair of the defence arm of the Southern African Development Community.
104.
Robert Mugabe initially committed 3000 troops to the operation; this gradually rose to 11,000.
105.
Robert Mugabe persuaded Angola and Namibia to commit troops to the conflict.
106.
In October 1999, Robert Mugabe visited Britain and in London, the human rights activist Peter Tatchell attempted to place him under citizen's arrest.
107.
Robert Mugabe believed that the British government had deliberately engineered the incident to embarrass him.
108.
Robert Mugabe was furious, and blamed the white minority for orchestrating his defeat, referring to them as "enemies of Zimbabwe".
109.
Some of Robert Mugabe's colleagues described the invasions as retribution for the white community's alleged involvement in securing the success of the 'no' vote in the recent referendum.
110.
Robert Mugabe justified the seizures by the fact that this land had been seized by white settlers from the indigenous African population in the 1890s.
111.
Robert Mugabe portrayed the invasions as a struggle against colonialism and alleged that the UK was trying to overthrow his government.
112.
In March 2000, Zimbabwe's High Court ruled that the land invasions were illegal; they nevertheless continued, and Robert Mugabe began vilifying Zimbabwe's judiciary.
113.
In November 2001, Robert Mugabe issued a presidential decree permitting the expropriation of virtually all white-owned farms in Zimbabwe without compensation.
114.
Robert Mugabe directly exacerbated this problem when he ordered the killing of 100 elephants to provide meat for an April 2007 feast.
115.
In October 2000, the MDC's MPs attempted to impeach Robert Mugabe, but were thwarted by the Speaker of the House, Robert Mugabe loyalist Emmerson Mnangagwa.
116.
Robert Mugabe claimed that the build-up to the 2002 presidential election represented "the third Chimurenga" and that it would set Zimbabwe free from its colonial heritage.
117.
In 2005, Robert Mugabe instituted Operation Murambatsvina, a project of forced slum clearance; a UN report estimated that 700,000 were left homeless.
118.
In 2002, the Commonwealth expelled Zimbabwe from among its ranks; Robert Mugabe blamed this on anti-black racism, a view echoed by South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki.
119.
Mbeki favoured a policy of "quiet diplomacy" in dealing with Robert Mugabe, and prevented the African Union from introducing sanctions against him.
120.
The Africa-Europe Summit, scheduled to take place in Lisbon in April 2003, was deferred repeatedly because African leaders refused to attend while Robert Mugabe was banned; it eventually took place in 2007 with Robert Mugabe in attendance.
121.
Robert Mugabe deemed it a victory for his Western, and in particular British, detractors, whom he believed were working with Tsvangirai to end his political career.
122.
Under the agreement, Robert Mugabe remained President while Tsvangirai became Prime Minister and the MDC's Arthur Mutambara became Vice Prime Minister.
123.
Robert Mugabe hoped that a decisive electoral victory would secure his legacy, signal his triumph over his Western critics, and irreparably damage Tsvangirai's credibility.
124.
Robert Mugabe called upon supporters to avoid violence, and attended far fewer rallies than in past elections, in part because of his advanced age and in part to ensure that those rallies he did attend were larger.
125.
In February 2014, Robert Mugabe underwent a cataract operation in Singapore; on return he celebrated his ninetieth birthday at a Marondera football stadium.
126.
In December 2014, Robert Mugabe fired his vice-president, Joice Mujuru, accusing her of plotting his overthrow.
127.
In January 2015, Robert Mugabe was elected as the Chairperson of the African Union.
128.
In February 2016, Robert Mugabe said he had no plans for retirement and would remain in power "until God says 'come'".
129.
In February 2017, right after his 93rd birthday, Robert Mugabe stated he would not retire nor pick a successor, even though he said he would let his party choose a successor if it saw fit.
130.
Robert Mugabe made three medical trips to Singapore in 2017, and Grace Mugabe called on him to name a successor.
131.
On 6 November 2017, Robert Mugabe sacked his first vice-president, Emmerson Mnangagwa.
132.
Hours after the debate began, the Speaker of the House of Assembly read a letter from Robert Mugabe announcing that he had resigned, effective immediately.
133.
In July 2018, the Zimbabwe Supreme Court ruled that Robert Mugabe had resigned voluntarily, despite some of the ex-president's subsequent comments.
134.
Late in December 2017, according to a government gazette, Robert Mugabe was given full diplomatic status and, out of public funds, a five-bedroom house, up to 23 staff members, and personal vehicles.
135.
Robert Mugabe further was permitted to keep the business interests and other wealth which he had amassed while in power, and he received an additional payment of about ten million dollars.
136.
On 15 March 2018, in his first interview since removal from the presidency, Robert Mugabe insisted that he had been ousted in a "coup d'etat" which must be undone.
137.
Robert Mugabe stated that he would not work with Mnangagwa and termed Mnangagwa's presidency "illegal" and "unconstitutional".
138.
The state media reported that Robert Mugabe had backed the National Political Front, which was formed by Ambrose Mutinhiri, a former high-ranking ZANU-PF politician who resigned in protest against Robert Mugabe's removal from the presidency.
139.
The NPF posted a picture of Mutinhiri posing with Robert Mugabe and issued a press release in which it said that the former president had praised the decision.
140.
Robert Mugabe was unable to walk, according to Emmerson Mnangagwa in November 2018, and had been receiving treatment in Singapore for the previous two months.
141.
Robert Mugabe was hospitalised there in April 2019, making the last of several trips to the country for medical treatment, as he had done late in his presidency and following his resignation.
142.
Robert Mugabe's body was then driven to the family residence in Borrowdale for a private wake attended by his friends and family, but not Mnangagwa.
143.
On 13 September 2019, it was announced that the Robert Mugabe family had accepted the Mnangagwa government's request to have Robert Mugabe buried at Heroes Acre Cemetery and to have his burial be delayed for 30 days.
144.
On 26 September 2019, Nick Mangwana stated that Robert Mugabe would be buried in his home town of Kutama "to respect the wishes of families of deceased heroes".
145.
Robert Mugabe characterised it as a form of "left-nationalism", which consistently railed against imperialism and colonialism.
146.
Robert Mugabe suggested that it had been influenced by a wide range of ideologies, among them forms of Marxism like Stalinism and Maoism, as well as African nationalist ideologies like Nkrumaism, Ujamaa, Garveyism, Negritude, Pan-Africanism, and African neo-traditionalism.
147.
Robert Mugabe has stated that "socialism has to be much more Christian than capitalism".
148.
Robert Mugabe openly admired Nicolae Ceausescu of Romania, praising him just before he was overthrown in December 1989.
149.
The scholar of African studies Abiodun Alao noted that Robert Mugabe was determined to "take advantage of the past in order to secure a firm grip on national security".
150.
David Blair stated that "Robert Mugabe's collected writings amount to nothing more than crude Marxism, couched in the ponderous English of the mission school", remarking that they were heavily informed by Karl Marx, Mao Zedong, and Frantz Fanon, and displayed little originality.
151.
Blair noted that Robert Mugabe's writings called for "command economics in a peasant society, mixed with anti-colonial nationalism", and that in this he held "the same opinions as almost every other African guerrilla leader" of that period.
152.
Robert Mugabe argued that following the overthrow of European colonial regimes, Western countries continued to keep African countries in a state of subservience because they desired the continent's natural resources while preventing it from industrialising.
153.
Robert Mugabe measured a little over 1.70 metres, and exhibited what his biographer David Blair described as "curious, effeminate mannerisms".
154.
Robert Mugabe took great care with his appearance, typically wearing a three-piece suit, and insisted that members of his cabinet dressed in a similar Anglophile fashion.
155.
On taking power in 1980, Robert Mugabe's hallmark was his wide-rimmed glasses, and he was known for his tiny moustache.
156.
Unlike a number of other African leaders, Robert Mugabe did not seek to mythologise his childhood.
157.
Robert Mugabe spoke English fluently with an adopted English accent when pronouncing certain words.
158.
Robert Mugabe was a fan of the English game of cricket, stating that "cricket civilizes people and creates good gentlemen".
159.
David Blair noted that this cultivation of British traits suggested that Robert Mugabe respected and perhaps admired Britain while at the same time resenting and loathing the country.
160.
The academic Blessing-Miles Tendi stated that Robert Mugabe was "an extremely complex figure, not easily captured by conventional categories".
161.
Blair argued that Robert Mugabe shared many character traits with Ian Smith, stating that they were both "proud, brave, stubborn, charismatic, deluded fantasists".
162.
Tendi stated that Robert Mugabe had a natural wittiness, but often hid this behind "an outwardly pensive and austere manner and his penchant for ceremony and tradition".
163.
Blair noted that at this period of his career, Robert Mugabe displayed "genuine magnanimity and moral courage" despite his "intense personal reasons for feeling bitterness and hatred" toward the members of the former regime.
164.
Colin Legum, a journalist with The Observer, argued that Robert Mugabe had a "paranoidal personality", in that while he did not suffer from clinical paranoia, he did behave in a paranoid fashion when placed under severe and sustained pressure.
165.
Several Robert Mugabe biographers have observed that he had an obsession with accruing power.
166.
Sally Robert Mugabe was a trained teacher who asserted her position as an independent political activist and campaigner.
167.
Robert Mugabe called on Zimbabwe's media to refer to his wife as "Amai", although many Zimbabweans resented the fact that she was a foreigner.
168.
In 1997, Grace Robert Mugabe gave birth to the couple's third child, Chatunga Bellarmine.
169.
The story of Robert Mugabe is a microcosm of what bedevils African democracy and economic recovery at the beginning of the 21st century.
170.
Robert Mugabe is either one of the world's great tyrants or a fearless nationalist who has incurred the wrath of the West.
171.
Robert Mugabe had a considerable following within Zimbabwe, with David Blair noting that "it would be wrong to imply that he lacked genuine popularity" in the country.
172.
At the time of his 1980 election victory, Robert Mugabe was internationally acclaimed as a revolutionary hero who was embracing racial reconciliation, and for the first decade of his governance he was widely regarded as "one of post-colonial Africa's most progressive leaders".
173.
David Blair argued that while Robert Mugabe did exhibit a "conciliatory phase" between March 1980 and February 1982, his rule was otherwise "dominated by a ruthless quest to crush his opponents and remain in office at whatever cost".
174.
Abiodun Alao concurred, suggesting that Robert Mugabe's approach had not changed over the course of his leadership, but merely that international attention had intensified in the twenty-first century.
175.
For many Africans, Robert Mugabe exposed the double standards of Western countries; the latter had turned a blind eye to the massacre of over 20,000 black Ndebele civilians in the Gukarakundi but strongly censured the Zimbabwean government when a small number of white farmers were killed during the land seizures.
176.
Robert Mugabe himself was accused of racism; John Sentamu, the Uganda-born Archbishop of York in the United Kingdom, called Robert Mugabe "the worst kind of racist dictator", for having "targeted the whites for their apparent riches".
177.
In 1994, Robert Mugabe received an honorary knighthood from the British state; this was stripped from him at the advice of the UK government in 2008.
178.
Robert Mugabe held several honorary degrees and doctorates from international universities, awarded to him in the 1980s; at least three of these have since been revoked.