Mugabe dies aged 95
Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s strongman leader of 37 years who presided over the collapse of what was one of Africa’s most promising post-independence states, has died. Mugabe, a hero of southern Africa’s liberation struggle and the country’s founder who became the villain as he rigged votes and crushed dissent to stay in power, was 95.
Emmerson Mnangagwa, who replaced Mugabe after his own ruling Zanu-PF betrayed him in a 2017 coup, confirmed his death on Friday. Mugabe had been receiving treatment in a Singapore hospital since April.
“His contribution to the history of our nation and continent will never be forgotten,” Mr Mnangagwa said. He called his mentor “an icon of liberation, a pan-Africanist who dedicated his life to the emancipation and empowerment of his people”.
Mugabe leaves behind a country that is battling a severe economic crisis. Millions are suffering from food shortages and the worst currency chaos since hyperinflation in 2008, one of the most glaring examples of his misrule. The economy also remains scarred by the land seizures from white farmers that he ordered in the 2000s, and the looting of billions of dollars from state coffers by his family and cronies. Many had hoped Mr Mnangagwa, Mugabe’s former right-hand man, would lead the country into reform and genuine democracy. But he has increasingly returned to Mugabe’s methods of rule including brutal suppression of protests.
Mugabe once said that the opposition “will never be allowed to rule this country — never ever . . . only God will remove me”. But his own generals disagreed as Grace Mugabe, his second wife who is 40 years his junior, moved closer to succeeding the ailing dictator.
In November 2017, they struck before Mrs Mugabe could eliminate them, and sent tanks on to the streets. The takeover was billed as restoring Mugabe’s legacy but army commanders anointed Mr Mnangagwa when the old man stubbornly refused to go. In a brief moment of hope, Zimbabweans believed that Mr Mnangagwa might rebuild bridges with the western countries that Mugabe harangued and scorned. He was declared the winner of Zimbabwe’s first elections without Mugabe on the ballot last year. However, the polls were marred by soldiers shooting several protesters.
The prospects of international re-engagement have been slipping away ever since the election. The crackdowns have only worsened this year as security forces have abducted and tortured dozens of activists and ordinary citizens. Unrest over the economy is also growing. As he increasingly left the country for medical treatment in his last years, Mugabe mocked Zimbabweans who wished for his death.
“I have died many times — that’s where I have beaten Christ,” he said on his 88th birthday. “Christ died once and resurrected once.” Now that he really is dead, the country he founded faces a more uncertain future than ever.
