Mugabe Robert is the oldest president in the world. He is now 91 years old. For 35 years now, he has led Zimbabwe. The country under his control over recent decades has significantly reduced the pace of economic growth and development. Unsuccessful reforms and infringement of the rights of dissident citizens have led the once developing region to become one of the most backward and unstable.
Biography
Robert Mugabe (photo above) was born on February 21, 1924 in the family of a carpenter in Kutam. At that time, Zimbabwe was a British colony and was called Southern Rhodesia. Mugabe belongs to the ethnic majority of the country - the Shona people.
Robert received his primary education at a Jesuit school. He is Catholic by religion. He studied at college (1942–1954), a teacher by education. He became a bachelor in 1951. Then he studied remotely at the University of London, received several more degrees. He taught in Southern Rhodesia, then from 1956 to 1960. - in Ghana.
Upon returning home at age 36, he joined the National Democratic Party, which was banned by the white colonialist regime. He was a member of the African People's Union of Zimbabwe. He actively participated in the movement against the colonization of the country. He was one of the initiators of the creation of a new party - the African National Union of Zimbabwe, and in 1963 became its secretary general. For his active position he was condemned by the regime and 10 years (1964-1974) was imprisoned.
During the liberation movement he was the leader of the party. After the partisans laid down their arms in the 1980 elections, Mugabe won a landslide victory and became prime minister of the independent state of Zimbabwe. Since 1987, after a change in the constitutional order, he took over as president. In the subsequent elections, he earned a majority of the vote and is still the head of state.
Mugabe Robert: family
The future president of Zimbabwe was the third child in a family of six children. His two older brothers died. Robert was still a child then. He had two sisters and a younger brother.
With his first wife, Sally Hayfron Mugabe met in 1958 while teaching in Ghana. They married in 1961, and in 1963 they had a son Nhamodzeniika. Three years later, he contracted malaria and died. Robert was in custody at that time, and he was not even allowed to attend the funeral.
Sally after the death of her son went to the UK, where she worked as a secretary in the African Center. She was proactive and advocated for the release of her husband and other political prisoners from prisons in Southern Rhodesia. Sally died of kidney disease in 1992.
Mugabe's second wife, Grace Marufu, was his secretary. They got married in 1996. Grace is more than 40 years younger than Robert. Before marriage, they already had two children. In 1997, they had another baby.
Grace Mugabe is known for her extravagance and pursuit of luxury. Prior to the imposition of sanctions, she often visited expensive stores. This caused criticism from the European community.
Political activity
Before Mugabe came to power, Robert was active in establishing democracy in his country. However, the methods he used sometimes ran counter to these principles. Political opponents who competed with him were eliminated by various methods, including physical destruction.
When a civil uprising broke out in 1981, he was brutally crushed by the armed forces. According to some reports, up to 20,000 thousand people disliked by the regime died after ethnic cleansing. Mugabe in 1991 supported the Ethiopian dictator and gave political asylum to him and his family. In 1998, he got involved in the civil war in the Congo. After the failure of constitutional reform in Zimbabwe, land “lawlessness” began. Land, farms were taken from the colonialists and transferred to loyal adherents of the presidential regime.
This could not go unnoticed. Mugabe held the subsequent elections with clear violations of voters' rights. To stay in power, fraud with bulletins and intimidation were used. In 2002, a number of European countries and the United States imposed sanctions against the Mugabe regime, and the IMF stopped supporting the country's economy.
Zimbabwe and Mugabe
Despite everything, the president has serious support among the population. These are mainly veterans of the liberation movement for independence and members of their families who received the lands and privileges of the regime. The other part approves Mugabe’s policies towards the US and Europe. Many people believe that all the troubles of Zimbabwe from the desire to free themselves from the "white" colonizers.
The presidential election programs are not distinguished by special innovations. The main message is to prevent the West from returning colonial rule to Zimbabwe, casting doubt on the country's independence, and driving the black people into reservations. There is only one conclusion for them: who then, if not Robert Mugabe?
The country under his leadership is on the list of the backward, the population is starving. More than 95% of residents are below the poverty line. Life expectancy in the country decreased by an average of 15 years. This is caused by waves of violence, outbreaks of epidemics, hunger.
Deprived of support, the economy is in decline. The gravest crisis and rash reforms led to a complete depreciation of the national currency. The population receives humanitarian assistance from the UN. Oppositionists, waiting for a change for the better, ceased to believe in the elections under the current regime, fell into complete apathy. The only way out for them is emigration.
The reform
The economy of Southern Rhodesia before the rule of Mugabe was the mining industry and agricultural products produced on colonial farms. The redistribution of land gave rise to a crisis. Far from this people came to farm management. Sown areas decreased, production fell sharply, the industry stopped making profits.
Unreasonable cash payments to veterans of the liberation movement led to the onset of inflation. At the height of the global crisis, the Zimbabwean economy collapsed. Hyperinflation was estimated at hundreds of millions of percent. The US dollar was worth 250,000 Zimbabwean dollars. Unemployment was 80%.
Housing reform has led to the loss of a roof over the head of hundreds of thousands of families. Announced by the slum-fighting program, it was in fact a war against citizens of the regions who supported the opposition candidate in the elections. Only the UN demand and threats to stop humanitarian support for Zimbabwe forced Mugabe to stop "housing reform."
In such circumstances, EU sanctions and the suspension of IMF funding do not allow the dictatorial regime to develop. The whole population suffers from this.
Curiosities of Robert Mugabe
The President of Zimbabwe is known for his extraordinary deeds and harsh abusive statements addressed to the leaders of countries unfriendly to him. I remember his unexpected and uninvited visit to the UN event in 2008 and the indictment.
After the decision to legalize same-sex marriage in the United States, Obama received a marriage proposal from an ardent homophobic Mugabe. From his lips to the Prime Minister of Great Britain and the Chancellor of Germany repeatedly made insulting statements. Mugabe blames them for all the troubles in Zimbabwe.
Old age also makes itself felt. Robert Mugabe, 91, made the same speech at the opening of the parliament for about half an hour as at the previous meeting. The president’s press service was blamed for everything. When leaving the plane, he unexpectedly stumbled and almost fell under the journalists. The security service demanded that all photos of the incident be deleted.
Repeatedly in the press there was information about a possible illness of Robert Mugabe. He was repeatedly seen in clinics and cancer treatment centers. Despite everything, the oldest president continues to rule the country, and the ruling Zimbabwean party has already nominated him for the next election, due in 2018, as his candidate.