Democrats
2015
Search results
Robert Gabriel Mugabe (/ m ʊ ˈ ɡ ɑː b i /; Shona:; 21 February 1924 – 6 September 2019) 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.
- Canaan Banana
- Morgan Tsvangirai (2009–2013)
- Overview
- Early life and rise to power
- Prime ministership and the presidency
- Growing unrest
Robert Mugabe is best known for being a Black nationalist leader and the longtime ruler of Zimbabwe—first as prime minister (1980–87), then as president (1987–2017)—who was pressured by military and political powers to step down amid concerns that he was trying to position his wife, Grace, to succeed him.
How did Robert Mugabe come to power?
One of the leading Black nationalist figures in the decades-long fight against the white-minority-led-government of Rhodesia (later renamed Zimbabwe), Robert Mugabe was tapped to serve as prime minister when Black majority rule was achieved in 1980. He further solidified his position of power by becoming president in 1987.
When was Robert Mugabe in power?
Robert Mugabe ruled Zimbabwe for about 37 years: first as prime minister, from 1980 to 1987, and then as president, from 1987 until 2017, when he resigned under political and military pressure.
Where is Robert Mugabe buried?
The son of a village carpenter, Mugabe was trained as a teacher in a Roman Catholic mission school. He was introduced to nationalist politics while he was a student at the University College of Fort Hare, South Africa, and between 1956 and 1960 he taught in Ghana.
Mugabe returned to Rhodesia in 1960, and in 1963 he helped the Rev. Ndabaningi Sithole to form the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) as a breakaway from Joshua Nkomo’s Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU). In 1964 he was arrested for “subversive speech” and spent the next 10 years in prison. During that period he acquired law degrees by correspondence courses. While still in prison he led a coup in 1974 deposing Sithole as ZANU’s leader.
In late 1974 Mugabe was freed. During the civil war that pitted Rhodesia’s Black majority population against Prime Minister Ian Smith’s white-ruled Rhodesian government (1975–79), Mugabe was joint leader, with Nkomo, of the Patriotic Front (PF) of Zimbabwe. The party’s guerrillas operated against the Rhodesian government from bases in neighbouring Zambia, Mozambique, and Angola. Fresh negotiations in London in 1979 ended the war and led to new British-supervised parliamentary elections in February 1980. Mugabe’s party, now using the name ZANU-PF, won a landslide victory over the other Black parties, and he became prime minister.
Britannica Quiz
As prime minister, Mugabe initially followed a pragmatic course designed to reassure Zimbabwe’s remaining white farmers and businessmen, whose skills were vital to the economy. He formed a coalition government between his party, ZANU-PF (which drew its support from the majority Shona people), and Nkomo’s ZAPU (which drew its support from the minority Ndebele people), and he abided by the new constitution’s guarantees of substantial parliamentary representation for whites. At the same time, Mugabe took steps to improve the lot of Black Zimbabweans through increased wages, improved social services, and food subsidies. In 1982 Mugabe ousted Nkomo from the coalition cabinet, and ethnic strife between the Shona and the Ndebele subsequently troubled the country. Zimbabwe’s economy steadily declined despite Mugabe’s measures, and whites continued to emigrate in substantial numbers.
Mugabe had always intended to convert Zimbabwe from a parliamentary democracy into a one-party socialist state. In 1984 ZANU-PF held a congress, made Mugabe its unchallenged leader, and set up a new party structure with a Central Committee and a Politburo that were designed to rule both the party and Zimbabwe. In 1987 Mugabe’s and Nkomo’s parties merged into one under the name of ZANU-PF, and as first secretary of the new party, Mugabe retained absolute control over it. On December 31, 1987, he became Zimbabwe’s first executive president, effectively establishing one-party rule. In 1990 he was reelected president in a multiparty election that was marked by intimidation and violence.
Students save 67%! Learn more about our special academic rate today.
Learn More
Mugabe faced growing unrest in the late 1990s. A failing economy and his decision to send troops to assist President Laurent Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in his fight against rebels led to strikes, and in November 1998 riots occurred following Mugabe’s announcement that he and members of his cabinet would receive pay increases. Factions within ZANU-PF continued to press for a true multiparty system. The first real opposition to Mugabe’s government came from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), formed in September 1999 and led by trade unionist Morgan Tsvangirai. In the parliamentary elections of 2000, the MDC won about half of the contested seats, but ZANU-PF won or controlled most of the remaining seats and thus maintained firm control of Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, war veterans, demanding immediate land reforms, threatened to occupy some of the country’s white-owned farms. Mugabe showed sympathy for their cause, doing nothing to dissuade them. In the months leading to the 2000 parliamentary elections, the veterans acted on their threats, which led to heightened tensions in the country.
Although Mugabe was reelected in 2002, the elections were tainted by violence and criticized by observers. A law passed later that year allowed Mugabe to pursue an aggressive program of confiscating white-owned farms; more than half of the country’s white farmers were forced to relinquish their property. Unfortunately, property was often claimed by politically connected individuals with little or no farming experience. The government’s lack of forethought in forcing out the white farmers and failing to replace them with experienced farmworkers contributed to a significant decline in agricultural productivity; this, as well as a drought, led to severe food shortages in Zimbabwe.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Sep 6, 2019 · Zimbabwe's longtime leader Robert Mugabe is dead: Live updates. By Kara Fox, CNN. Updated 8:00 a.m. ET, September 9, 2019. What we're covering here. What's happened: Robert Mugabe, who...
- Kara Fox
- 4 min
People also ask
Who was Robert Mugabe?
What happened to Robert Mugabe?
What did Mugabe do after independence?
Why was Mugabe a controversial figure?
Nov 9, 2009 · The leader of Zimbabwe since its independence in 1980, Robert Mugabe (1924-2019) was one of the longest-serving and, in the latter years of his reign, most infamous African rulers. Trained as a...
Sep 6, 2019 · Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean independence icon turned authoritarian leader, has died aged 95. Mr Mugabe had been receiving treatment in a hospital in Singapore since April. He was ousted in a...
Sep 6, 2019 · Robert Mugabe, the first prime minister and later president of independent Zimbabwe, who traded the mantle of liberator for the armor of a tyrant and presided over the decline of one of...
Sep 6, 2019 · Zimbabwe's ex-president Robert Mugabe dies at 95. To others, he was a revolutionary hero, who fought racial oppression and stood up to Western imperialism and neo-colonialism. On his own terms,...
