Robert Mugabe

"Mugabe" redirects here. For other uses, see Mugabe (disambiguation).

The Rt. Hon Robert Gabriel Mugabe KCB
Mugabe at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Jan. 31, 2008
President of Zimbabwe
Incumbent
Assumed office 31 December 1987
Vice President	Simon Muzenda Joshua Nkomo Joseph Msika Joyce Mujuru
Preceded by	Canaan Banana
Prime Minister of Zimbabwe
In office 18 April 1980 – 31 December 1987
President	Canaan Banana
Preceded by	Abel Muzorewa (Zimbabwe Rhodesia)
Succeeded by	Post abolished
Secretary General of Non-Aligned Movement
In office 06 September 1986 – 07 September 1989
Preceded by	Zail Singh
Succeeded by	Janez Drnovšek
Personal details
Born	(1924-02-21) 21 February 1924 Kutama, Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia
Political party	ZANU-PF
Spouse(s)	Sally Hayfron (deceased) Grace Marufu
Alma mater	University of Fort Hare University of London University of South Africa
Signature

Robert Gabriel Mugabe KCB (born on February 21, 1924) is the President of Zimbabwe. He has served as the head of government in Zimbabwe since 1980, as Prime Minister from 1980 to 1987 and as the first executive President since 1987. He rose to prominence in the 1960s as a leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) in guerrilla warfare against white-minority rule in Rhodesia in the Bush War (1964–1979).

Mugabe is an outspoken, controversial and polarizing figure. Emerging from the war, he was hailed by Africans as a hero of the fight for independence and a highly educated leader. After a costly intervention in the Second Congo War and mass expropriation of white-owned farmland, Western opinion turned sharply against Mugabe, and various forms of economic sanctions and reductions in aid were imposed. Zimbabwe's economy spiraled downward, leading to food and oil shortages, hyperinflation, and massive emigration. During this recent period his policies have been denounced in the West and at home as racist. Mugabe has described his critics as "born again colonialists," and both he and his supporters claim that Zimbabwe's problems are the legacy of imperialism, aggravated by Western economic meddling. On 3 April 2008, it was annnounced in the British press that the main opposition party, the movement for Democratic change had won control of the parliament.

Early life

Mugabe was born in Matibiri village near Kutama Mission in the Zvimba District northeast of Salisbury in Southern Rhodesia. He had two older brothers, with one of them, Michael, very popular in the village. Both his older brothers died, leaving Robert and his younger brother, Donato. His father, Gabriel Mugabe Matibiri, a carpenter, abandoned the Mugabe family in 1934 after Michael died, in search of work in Bulawayo. Mugabe was raised as a Roman Catholic, studying in Marist Brothers and Jesuit schools, including the exclusive Kutama College, headed by an Irish priest, Father Jerome O'Hea, who took him under his wing. He was bookish and very close to his mother in his youth.. He qualified as a teacher, but left to study at Fort Hare in South Africa graduating in 1951 while meeting contemporaries such as Julius Nyerere, Herbert Chitepo, Robert Sobukwe and Kenneth Kaunda. He then studied at Driefontein in 1952, Salisbury (1953), Gwelo (1954), and Tanzania (1955–1957).

Originally graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Fort Hare in 1951, Mugabe subsequently earned six further degrees through distance learning including a Bachelor of Administration and Bachelor of Education from the University of South Africa and a Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Laws, Master of Science and Master of Laws, all from the University of London External Programme. The two Law degrees were taken whilst he was in prison, whilst the Master of Science degree was taken during his premiership of Zimbabwe.

After graduating, Mugabe lectured at Chalimbana Teacher Training College, in Zambia from 1955–1958, thereafter he taught at Apowa Secondary School at Takoradi, in the Western Region of Ghana (1958 – 1960) where he met Sally Hayfron, who later became his first wife. During his stay in Ghana, he was influenced and inspired by Ghana's then-Prime Minister, Kwame Nkrumah. In addition, Mugabe and some of his Zimbabwe African National Union party cadres received instruction at the Kwame Nkrumah Ideological Institute, then at Winneba in southern Ghana.

Early political career

Main article: History of Zimbabwe

Mugabe returned to Southern Rhodesia and joined the National Democratic Party in 1960. The administration of Prime Minister Ian Smith immediately banned the NDP when it later became Joshua Nkomo's Zimbabwe African Peoples Union (ZAPU). Mugabe left ZAPU in 1963 to join the rival Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) which had been formed in 1963 by the Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole, Edgar Tekere, Edson Zvobgo, Enos Nkala and lawyer Herbert Chitepo. ZANU was influenced by the Africanist ideas of the Pan Africanist Congress in South Africa and influenced by Maoism while ZAPU was an ally of the African National Congress and was a supporter of a more orthodox pro-Soviet line on national liberation. Similar divisions can also be seen in the liberation movement in Angola between the MPLA and UNITA.It would have been easy for the party to split along tribal lines between the Ndebele and Mugabe's own Shona tribe, but cross-tribal representation was maintained by his partners. ZANU leader Sithole nominated Robert Mugabe as his Secretary General.

In 1964 he was arrested for “subversive speech” and spent the next 10 years in prison. During that period he earned three degrees, including a law degree from London and a bachelor of administration from the University of South Africa by correspondence courses. Smith did not allow Mugabe out of prison to attend the funeral of Mugabe's four-year-old son. In 1974, while still in prison, Mugabe was elected -- with the powerful influence of Edgar Tekere -- to take over the reigns of ZANU after a no-confidence vote was passed on Ndabaningi Sithole. (Mugabe himself abstained from voting). His time in prison burnished his reputation and helped his cause.

Mugabe unilaterally assumed control of ZANU from Mozambique. Later that year, after squabbling with Ndabaningi Sithole, Mugabe formed a militant ZANU faction, leaving Sithole to lead the moderate Zanu (Ndonga) party, which renounced violent struggle. Many opposition leaders mysteriously died during this time, including one who died in a car crash but was allegedly riddled with bullet holes. An opposing newspaper's printing press was bombed and its journalists tortured.

Lancaster House Agreement

Main article: Lancaster House Agreement

Persuasion from B.J. Vorster, himself under pressure from Henry Kissinger, forced Smith to accept in principle that white minority rule could not continue indefinitely. On 3 March 1978 Bishop Abel Muzorewa, Ndabaningi Sithole and other moderate leaders signed an agreement at Governor's Lodge in Salisbury, which paved the way for an interim power-sharing government, in preparation for elections. The elections were won by the United African National Council under Bishop Abel Muzorewa, but international recognition did not follow and sanctions were not lifted. The two 'Patriotic Front' groups under Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo refused to participate and continued the war.

Agreement|Lancaster House]] in September 1979. A ceasefire was negotiated for the talks, which were attended by Smith, Mugabe, Nkomo, Edson Zvobgo and others. Eventually the parties to the talks agreed on a new constitution for a new Republic of Zimbabwe with elections in February 1980. Mugabe had to concede to accepting 20 seats reserved for whites in the new Parliament and to the inability of the new government to alter the constitution for ten years. His return to Zimbabwe in December 1979 was greeted with enormous supportive crowds.

Prime Minister and President

After a campaign marked by intimidation from all sides, mistrust from security forces and reports of full ballot boxes found on the road, the Shona majority was decisive in electing Mugabe to head the first government as prime minister on 4 March 1980. ZANU won 57 out of 80 Common Roll seats in the new parliament, with the 20 white seats all going to the Rhodesian Front.

Mugabe, whose political support came from his Shona-speaking homeland in the north, attempted to build Zimbabwe on a basis of an uneasy coalition with his Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) rivals, whose support came from the Ndebele-speaking south, and with the white minority. Mugabe sought to incorporate ZAPU into his Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) led government and ZAPU's military wing into the army. ZAPU's leader, Joshua Nkomo, was given a series of cabinet positions in Mugabe's government. However, Mugabe was torn between this objective and pressures to meet the expectations of his own ZANU followers for a faster pace of social change.

In 1983 Mugabe fired Nkomo from his cabinet, triggering bitter fighting between ZAPU supporters in the Ndebele-speaking region of the country and the ruling ZANU. Between 1982 and 1985 the military crushed armed resistance from Ndebele groups in the provinces of Matabeleland and the Midlands, leaving Mugabe's rule secure. Mugabe has been accused by the BBC's Panorama programme of committing mass murder during this period of his rule. A peace accord was negotiated in 1987. ZAPU merged into the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) on December 22, 1988. Mugabe brought Nkomo into the government once again as a vice-president.

In 1987 the position of Prime Minister was abolished and Mugabe assumed the new office of executive President of Zimbabwe gaining additional powers in the process. He was re-elected in 1990 and 1996, and in 2002 amid claims of widespread vote-rigging and intimidation. Mugabe's term of office expired at the end of March 2008.

Mugabe has been the Chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe since Parliament passed the University of Zimbabwe Amendment Bill in November 1990.

Gukurahundi

Main article: Gukurahundi

More than 20,000 Ndebele civilians were killed by Mugabe's North-Korean trained 5th Brigade during the Gukurahundi (“the early rain that washes away the chaff”) ethnic massacres. Their leader was Perence Shiri who called himself 'Black Jesus'. Mugabe is said to fear prosecution for this massacre, with bills calling for inquiries into the incident sometimes introduced into Parliament. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change has said that if it comes to power, it will call for an international trial of the massacre. Most of the 20,000 killed were innocent civilians.

Social programs

According to a 1995 World Bank report, after independence, "Zimbabwe gave priority to human resource investments and support for smallholder agriculture," and as a result, "smallholder agriculture expanded rapidly during the first half of the 1980s and social indicators improved quickly." From 1980 to 1990 infant mortality decreased from 86 to 49 per 1000 live births, under five mortality was reduced from 128 to 58 per 1000 live births, and immunisation increased from 25% to 80% of the population. Also, "child malnutrition fell from 22% to 12% and life expectancy increased from 56 to 64. By 1990, Zimbabwe had a lower infant mortality rate, higher adult literacy and higher school enrollment rate than average for developing countries."

In 1991 the government of Zimbabwe, short on hard currency and under international pressure, embarked on an austerity program. The World Bank's 1995 report explained that such reforms were required because Zimbabwe was unable to absorb into its labour market the many graduates from its impressive education system and that it needed to attract additional foreign investments. The reforms however undermined the livelihoods of Zimbabwe's poor majority; the report noted "large segments of the population, including most smallholder farmers and small scale enterprises, find themselves in a vulnerable position with limited capacity to respond to evolving market opportunities. This is due to their limited access to natural, technical and financial resources, to the contraction of many public services for smallholder agriculture, and to their still nascent links with larger scale enterprises."

Moreover, these people were forced to live on marginal lands as Zimbabwe's best lands were reserved for mainly white landlords growing cash crops for export, a sector of the economy favoured by the IMF's plan. For the poor on the communal lands, "existing levels of production in these areas are now threatened by the environmental fragility of the natural resource base and the unsustainability of existing farming practices." The International Monetary Fund later suspended aid, saying reforms were "not on track."

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), life expectancy at birth for Zimbabwean men is 37 years and is 34 years for women, the lowest such figures for any nation. The World Bank's 1995 report predicted this decline in life expectancy from its 1990 height of 64 years when, commenting on health care system cuts mandated by the IMF structural adjustment programme, it stated that "The decline in resources is creating strains and threatening the sustainability of health sector achievements."

The Zimbabwe dollar suffers from the highest Inflation rate of any currency in the world. Zimbabwe official statistics reveal that the annualised inflation rate for September 2006 was 1000%. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its World Economic Outlook database, reported inflation in 2006 at 1216%. Inflation reached 9,000% on June 21, and 11,000% on June 22, 2007. It continues to climb rapidly, and reportedly exceeds 100,000% as of April 2008.

While Zimbabwe has suffered in many other measures under Mugabe, as a former schoolteacher he has been well-known for his commitment to education. However, Catholic Archbishop of Zimbabwe Pius Ncube decried the educational situation in the country, saying, among other scathing indictments of Mugabe, "We had the best education in Africa and now our schools are closing."

Views on homosexuality

Mugabe has waged a violent campaign against homosexuals, arguing that prior to colonisation Zimbabweans did not engage in homosexual acts. His first major public condemnation of homosexuality came in 1995 during the Zimbabwe International Book Fair in August 1995. He told the audience that homosexuality

degrades human dignity. It's unnatural and there is no question ever of allowing these people to behave worse than dogs and pigs. If dogs and pigs do not do it, why must human beings? We have our own culture, and we must re-dedicate ourselves to our traditional values that make us human beings... What we are being persuaded to accept is sub-animal behaviour and we will never allow it here. If you see people parading themselves as lesbians and gays, arrest them and hand them over to the police!

In September 1995, Zimbabwe's parliament introduced legislation banning homosexual acts. In 1997 a court found Canaan Banana, Mugabe's predecessor and the first President of Zimbabwe, guilty of 11 counts of sodomy and indecent assault. Banana's trial proved embarrassing for Mugabe, when Banana's accusers alleged that Mugabe knew about Banana's conduct and had done nothing to stop it.

Second Congo War

Mugabe was blamed for Zimbabwe's participation in the Second Congo War in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At a time when the Zimbabwean economy was struggling, Zimbabwe responded to a call by the Southern African Development Community to help the struggling regime in Kinshasha. The Democratic Republic of the Congo had been invaded by Rwanda, which sought to institute a change of government, and Uganda, which claimed that its civilians, and regional stability, were under constant threat of attack by various terrorist groups based in the Congo. The war raised accusations of corruption, with officials alleged to be plundering the Congo's mineral reserves. Mugabe's defence minister Moven Mahachi said, "Instead of our army in the DRC burdening the treasury for more resources, which are not available, it embarks on viable projects for the sake of generating the necessary revenue."

Land reform

Main article: Land reform in Zimbabwe

When Zimbabwe gained independence 46.5% of the country's arable land was owned by around 6,000 commercial farmers. Mugabe accepted a "willing buyer, willing seller" plan as part of the Lancaster House Agreement of 1979, among other concessions to the white minority. As part of this agreement, land redistribution was blocked for a period of 10 years.

In 1997, the new British government led by Tony Blair unilaterally stopped funding the "willing buyer, willing seller" land reform programme on the basis that the initial £44 million allocated under the Thatcher government was used to purchase land for members of the ruling elite rather than landless peasants. Furthermore, Britain's ruling Labour Party felt no obligation to continue paying white farmers compensation, or in minister Clare Short's words, "I should make it clear that we do not accept that Britain has a special responsibility to meet the costs of land purchase in Zimbabwe. We are a new Government from diverse backgrounds without links to former colonial interests. My own origins are Irish and as you know we were colonised not colonisers."

Some commentators, such as Matthew Sweet in the London Independent, hold Cecil Rhodes ultimately responsible:

But it was Cecil Rhodes who originated the racist 'land grabs' to which Zimbabwe's current miseries can ultimately be traced. It was Rhodes who in 1887 told the House Of Assembly in Capetown,South Africa that 'the native is to be treated as a child and denied the franchise.We must adopt a system on despotism in our relations with the barbarians of Southern Africa... I personally prefer land to niggers.'

As of September 2006, Mugabe's family owns three farms: Highfield Estate in Norton, 45 km west of Harare, Iron Mask Estate in Mazowe, about 40 km from Harare, and Foyle Farm in Mazowe, formerly owned by Ian Webster and adjacent to Iron Mask Farm, renamed to Gushungo Farm after Mugabe's own clan name. These farms were seized forcibly from their previous owners.

In 2005 Mugabe ordered a raid conducted on what the government termed "illegal shelters" in Harare, resulting in 10,000 urban poor being left homeless from "Operation Murambatsvina (English: Operation Drive Out the Rubbish)." The authorities themselves had moved the poor inhabitants to the area in 1992, telling them not to build permanent homes and that their new homes were temporary, leading the inhabitants to build their own temporary shelters out of cardboard and wood. Since the inhabitants of the shantytowns overwhelmingly supported the Movement for Democratic Change opposition party in the previous election, many alleged that the mass bulldozing was politically motivated. The UK's Daily Telegraph noted that Mugabe's "latest palace," in the style of a pagoda, was located a mile from the destroyed shelters. The UN released a report stating that the actions of Mugabe resulted in the loss of home or livelihood for more than 700,000 Zimbabweans and negatively affected 2.4 million more.

Farm seizures and starvation

On 12 to 13 February 2000, a referendum was held on a new constitution. The proposed change would have limited future presidents to two terms, but as it was not retroactive, Mugabe could have stood for another two terms. It also would have made his government and military officials immune from prosecution for any illegal acts committed while in office. In addition, it allowed the government to confiscate white-owned land for redistribution to black farmers without compensation. The motion failed with 55% of participants against the referendum. The referendum had a 20% turnout fuelled by an effective SMS campaign. Mugabe declared that he would "abide by the will of the people". The vote was a surprise to ZANU-PF, and an embarrassment before parliamentary elections due in mid-April. Almost immediately, self-styled "war veterans", led by Chenjerai 'Hitler' Hunzvi, began invading white-owned farms. On April 6, 2000, Parliament pushed through an amendment, taken word for word from the draft constitution that was rejected by voters, allowing the seizure of white-owned farmlands without due reimbursement or payment.

Since these actions, agricultural production has plummeted and the economy is crippled. Once the "bread basket" of southern Africa and a major agricultural exporter, Zimbabwe now depends on food programs and support from outside to feed its population. A third of the population depends on food supplies from the World Food Programme to avoid starvation.

The United Nations provoked anger when its Food and Agriculture Organisation invited Mugabe to speak at a celebration of its 60th anniversary in Rome. Critics of the move argued that since Mugabe could not feed his own people without the UN's support, he was an inappropriate speaker for the group, which has a mission statement of "helping to build a world without hunger."

Mugabe blames the food shortages on drought. Zimbabwe's state-owned press accused former British Prime Minister Tony Blair of using chemical weapons to incite droughts and famines in Africa.

Elections

Mugabe faced Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in presidential elections in March 2002. Mugabe defeated Tsvangirai by 56.2% to 41.9% amid violence and the prevention of large numbers of citizens in urban areas from voting. The conduct of the elections was widely viewed internationally as having been manipulated. Many groups, such as the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), assert that the turnout was rigged.

On July 3, 2004 a report adopted by the African Union executive council, which comprises foreign ministers of the 53 member states, criticized the government for the arrest and torture of opposition members of parliament and human rights lawyers, the arrest of journalists, the stifling of freedom of expression and clampdowns on other civil liberties. It was compiled by the AU's African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, which sent a mission to Zimbabwe from June 24 to 28 2002, shortly after the presidential elections. The report was apparently not submitted to the AU's 2003 summit because it had not been translated into French. It was adopted at the next AU summit in 2005.

Mugabe's ZANU-PF party won the 2005 parliamentary elections with an increased majority. The elections were said by (again) South African observers to "reflect the free will of the people of Zimbabwe", despite accusations of widespread fraud from the MDC.

General elections 2008

Main article: Zimbabwean presidential election, 2008

Mugabe launched his election campaign on his birthday in Beitbridge, a small town on the border with South Africa on 23 February 2008 by denouncing both the opposition MDC and Simba Makoni's candidacy. He was quoted in the state media as saying: "Dr Makoni lacked majority support while Mr Tsvangirai was in the presidential race simply to please his Western backers in exchange for money." These are the charges he has used in the past to describe the leader of the opposition.

In the week Dr. Makoni launched his campaign for the presidency, he accused Mugabe of buying votes from the electorate. This was a few hours after Dumiso Dabengwa had come out and endorsed Dr. Makoni's candidature.

On 2 April 2008, The Zimbabwe election commission confirmed that Mr. Mugabe and his party, known as ZANU-PF, lost control of Parliament. According to unofficial polling, Zanu-PF took 94 seats, and the main opposition party MDC took 96 seats.. On 3 April 2008 Zimbabwean government forces began cracking down on the main opposition party and arresting at least two foreign journalists covering the disputed presidential election, including a correspondent for The New York Times.

Criticism and opposition

Example of foreign criticism: a demonstration against Mugabe's regime next to the Zimbabwe embassy in London (Summer 2006).

Mugabe's critics accuse him of conducting a "reign of terror", and being an 'extremely poor role model' for the continent, whose 'transgressions' are 'unpardonable'. In solidarity with the April 2007 general strike called by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), British Trades Union Congress General Secretary Brendan Barber said of Mugabe's regime: 'Zimbabwe's people are suffering from Mugabe's appalling economic mismanagement, corruption and brutal repression. They are standing up for their rights, and we must stand with them." Lela Kogbara, Chair of ACTSA (Action for Southern Africa) similarly has said: "As with every oppressive regime women and workers are left bearing the brunt. Please join us as we stand in solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe in their struggle for peace, justice and freedom."

Robert Guest, the Africa editor for The Economist for seven years, argues that Mugabe is to blame for Zimbabwe's economic freefall. "In 1980, the average annual income in Zimbabwe was US$950, and a Zimbabwean dollar was worth more than an American one. By 2003, the average income was less than US$400, and the Zimbabwean economy was in freefall. "[Mugabe] has ruled Zimbabwe for nearly three decades and has led it, in that time, from impressive success to the most dramatic peacetime collapse of any country since Weimar Germany".

In the The Daily Telegraph of London, Mugabe was criticised for comparing himself to Hitler. Mugabe was quoted as saying "This Hitler has only one objective: justice for his people, sovereignty for his people, recognition of the independence of his people and their rights over their resources. If that is Hitler, then let me be a Hitler tenfold."

In recent years, Western governments have condemned Mugabe's government. On 9 March 2003, U.S. President George W. Bush approved measures for economic sanctions to be leveled against Mugabe and other high-ranking Zimbabwe politicians, freezing their assets and barring Americans from engaging in any transactions or dealings with them. Justifying the move, Bush's spokesman stated that the President and Congress believe that "the situation in Zimbabwe endangers the southern African region and threatens to undermine efforts to foster good governance and respect for the rule of law throughout the continent." The bill was known as the Zimbabwe Democracy Act.

On December 8, 2003, in protest against a further 18 months of suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations (thereby cutting foreign aid to Zimbabwe), Mugabe withdrew his country from the Commonwealth. Mugabe informed the leaders of Jamaica, Nigeria and South Africa of his decision when they telephoned him to discuss the situation. Zimbabwe's government said the President did not accept the Commonwealth's position, and was leaving the group.

In reaction to human rights violations in Zimbabwe, students at universities from which Mugabe has honorary doctorates have sought to get the degrees revoked. So far, the University of Edinburgh has stripped Mugabe of his honorary degree after years of campaigning from their student union. In addition, the student body at Michigan State University (ASMSU) unanimously passed a resolution calling for this. The issue is now being considered by the university.

On November 17, 2006 The Independent revealed that female life expectancy is now 34 as opposed to 63 a decade ago, with the male life expectancy standing at 37.

On February 6, 2007 Mugabe orchestrated a cabinet reshuffle, ousting ministers including five-year veteran finance minister Herbert Murerwa.

On March 11, 2007 opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was arrested and beaten following a prayer meeting in the Harare suburb of Highfields. Another member of the Movement for Democratic Change was killed while other protesters were injured. Mugabe claimed that "Tsvangirai deserved his beating-up by police because he was not allowed to attend a banned rally" on March 30 2007.

In June 2007 the first president of Zambia, Kenneth Kaunda, wrote that "leaders in the West say Robert Mugabe is a demon, that he has destroyed Zimbabwe and he must be got rid of - but this demonising is made by people who may not understand what Robert Gabriel Mugabe and his fellow freedom fighters went through."

Mugabe's office forbade the screening of the 2005 movie The Interpreter, claiming that it was propaganda by the CIA and fearing that it could incite hostility towards him.

In response to Mugabe's critics, former Zambian leader Kenneth Kaunda was quoted blaming not Mugabe for Zimbabwe's troubles, but successive British governments. Similarly, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, responded to his critics by saying that Zimbabwe's problems are the legacy of colonialism.

European Union travel ban

After observers from the European Union were barred from examining Zimbabwe's 2002 elections, the EU imposed a ban on Mugabe and 94 members of his government. The United States instituted a similar ban. The EU's ban has a few loopholes, resulting in Mugabe taking a few trips into Europe despite the ban. Mugabe is allowed to travel to UN events within European and American borders.

On April 8, 2005, Mugabe attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II, a move which could be seen as defiance of a European Union travel ban that does not, however, apply to Vatican City. He was granted a transit visa by the Italian authorities, as they are obliged to under the Concordat. However, the Catholic hierarchy in Zimbabwe have been very vocal against his rule and the senior Catholic cleric, Archbishop Pius Ncube is a major critic, even calling for Western governments to help in his overthrow. Mugabe surprised Prince Charles by shaking his hand during the service. Afterwards, the Prince's office released a statement saying, "The Prince of Wales was caught by surprise and not in a position to avoid shaking Mr Mugabe’s hand. The Prince finds the current Zimbabwean regime abhorrent. He has supported the Zimbabwe Defence and Aid Fund which works with those being oppressed by the regime. The Prince also recently met Pius Ncube, the Archbishop of Bulawayo, an outspoken critic of the government."

Prior to the ban, one of Mugabe's favourite pastimes was to travel to London.

US travel ban

Robert Mugabe and senior members of the Harare government are not allowed to travel to the United States because it is the position of the US government that he has worked to undermine democracy in Zimbabwe and has restricted freedom of the press. Despite strained political relations, the United States remains a leading provider of humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe, providing roughly $400 million in humanitarian assistance from 2002-2007, mostly food aid.

Succession

As one of Africa's longest-lasting leaders, speculation has built over the years as to the future of Zimbabwe after Mugabe leaves office. His age and recurring rumours of failing health have focused more attention on possible successors within his party as well as the opposition. The March 11, 2007 crackdown against a religious gathering sponsored by the opposition attracted scrutiny.

In June 2005 a report that Mugabe had entered a hospital for tests on his heart fueled rumours that he had died of a heart attack; these reports were dismissed by a Mugabe spokesman. This coincided with Operation Murambatsvina (or "Drive Out Trash"), a police campaign to demolish houses and businesses that had been built without permission on land previously taken from white landholders and intended for redistribution. Opponents called this an attempt to disperse urban centres of dissent into rural areas where the government had more control. Former information minister Jonathan Moyo attributed the events to a power struggle within the party over who would succeed Mugabe.

Joyce Mujuru, recently elevated to vice-president of ZANU-PF during the December 2004 party congress and considerably younger than Joseph Msika, the other vice-president, has been mentioned as a likely successor to Mugabe. Joyce Mujuru's candidacy for the presidency is strengthened by the backing of her husband, Solomon Mujuru, who is the former head of the Zimbabwean army.

In October 2006, a report prepared by Zimbabwe's Ministry of Economic Development acknowledged the lack of coordination among critical government departments in Zimbabwe and the overall lack of commitment to end the crisis. The report implied that the infighting in Zanu-PF over Mugabe's successor was also hurting policy formulation and consistency in implementation.

In late 2006 a plan was presented to postpone the next presidential election until 2010, at the same time as the next parliamentary election, thereby extending Mugabe's term by two years. It was said that holding the two elections together would be a cost-saving measure. However, this plan was not approved and there were reportedly objections from some in ZANU-PF to the idea. In March 2007 Mugabe said that he thought the feeling was in favour of holding the two elections together in 2008 instead of 2010. He also said that he would be willing to run for re-election again if the party wanted him to run. Other leaders in Southern Africa were rumoured to be less warm on the idea of extending his term to 2010; recently, at the independence celebrations in Ghana, South African President Thabo Mbeki was rumoured to have met with Mugabe in private and told him that "he was determined that South Africa's hosting of the Football World Cup in 2010 should not be disrupted by controversial presidential elections in Zimbabwe."

On March 30 2007, it was announced that the ZANU-PF central committee had chosen Mugabe as the party's candidate for another term in 2008, that presidential terms would be shortened to five years, and that the parliamentary election would also be held in 2008. Mugabe was chosen by acclamation as the party's presidential candidate for 2008 by ZANU-PF delegates at a party conference on December 13 2007.

Personal life

His first wife, the former Sally Hayfron, died in 1992 from a chronic kidney ailment. Their only son, Nhamodzenyika, born 27 September 1963, died on December 26, 1966 from cerebral malaria, while Mugabe was in prison. Sally Mugabe was a trained teacher who asserted her position as an independent political activist and campaigner who was seen as Mugabe's closest friend and adviser, and some critics suggest that Mugabe began to misrule Zimbabwe after her death.

Mugabe married his former secretary, Grace Marufu, 40 years his junior and with whom he already had two children, on August 17, 1996. Mugabe and Marufu were married in a Roman Catholic wedding Mass at Kutama College, a Catholic mission school he previously attended. Nelson Mandela was among the guests. A spokesman for Catholic Archbishop Patrick Chakaipa, who presided over the ceremony, said the diocese saw "no impediment" to the nuptials.

The Mugabes have three children: Bona, Robert Peter Jr. (although Robert Mugabe's middle name is Gabriel) and Bellarmine Chatunga. As First Lady, Grace has been the subject of much criticism for her lifestyle. When she was included in the 2002 EU travel sanctions on her husband, one EU parliamentarian was quoted as saying that the ban "will stop Grace Mugabe going on her shopping trips in the face of catastrophic poverty blighting the people of Zimbabwe." The Daily Telegraph called her "notorious at home for her profligacy" in a 2003 coverage of a trip to Paris. The Mugabes' children are not included in the EU travel sanctions.

Awards and honours

In 1994 Mugabe was bestowed an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath by Queen Elizabeth II. This entitles him to use the postnominal letters KCB, but not to use the title "Sir." UK Foreign Affairs Select Committee called for the removal of this honour in 2003, but no action was taken.

He also holds several honorary degrees and doctorates from various international universities, though in June 2007, he became the first international figure ever to be stripped of an honorary degree by a British university, when the University of Edinburgh withdrew the degree awarded to him in 1984.

Further reading

• Chan, Stephen. Robert Mugabe: A life of power and violence, 2003. IB Taurus, London. ISBN 9781860648731.
• East, R. and Thomas, Richard J. Profiles of People in Power: The World ́s Government Leaders, 2003 ISBN 185743126X.
• Holland, Heidi. Dinner with Mugabe, 2008. Penguin, South Africa. ISBN 9780143025573.
• Meredith, Martin : Mugabe: Power and Plunder in Zimbabwe, 2003. Oxford [rev. updated ed.] ISBN 1586482130 (American ed.: Our votes, our guns
• Nolan, Cathal J. Notable U.S. Ambassadors Since 1775: A Biographical Dictionary, 1997 ISBN 0313291950
• The Times (SA) Online. 'The angry little boy who showed them all'. Published: 01 Mar 2008.
• Who's Who : African Nationalist Leaders in Rhodesia by Robert Cary and Diana Mitchell, 1977,1980,1994 Reprinted by Mardon Printers (PTY) Ltd, Harare.
• Mwakikagile, Godfrey. Nyerere and Africa: End of an Era, 2006, Chapter Eight: "The Rhodesian Crisis: Tanzania's Role." New Africa Press, South Africa. ISBN 9780980253412.

When would President Robert Mugabe let the IEC release the presidential results? Its high time dictatorship come to an end and freedom come to Zimbabwe.

External links

• "Mugging Mugabe" (a commentary in defence of Mugabe)
• "The truth about Mugabe" (an anti-Mugabe commentary)
• "Zimbabwe election – a defeat for imperialism"
• "Zimbabwe's silent selective starvation"
• "Robert Mugabe's War to Crush Press Freedom in Zimbabwe"
• Reporters Without Borders profile on Mugabe
• Freedom House report on Zimbabwe
• IFEX - Media Coverage Favours Mugabe
• "Robert Mugabe at UMass" from the WGBH series, Ten O'clock News
• Indict Zimbabwe's demagogue before the International Criminal Court
• "Zimbabwe and the Politics of Torture"
• Human Rights Watch on Zimbabwe
• “Comrade Mugabe is our leader”,War Vets million man march for Mugabe,"Zimbabwe Metro"