Mugabe, Robert Gabriel

Mugabe, Robert Gabriel (b. 21 Feb. 1925). Prime Minister of Zimbabwe 1980–7, President 1988–  A Shona from the the Southern Rhodesian town of Kutama, he became a teacher and worked successively in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), and Ghana before returning to Southern Rhodesia in 1960. In 1961 he co-founded the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), whose deputy secretary-general he became. Imprisoned in 1962, he escaped to Tanganyika. Disillusioned by the dominance of Nkomo's Matabele people within the moderate ZAPU, in 1963 he co-founded ZANU (Zimbabwe African National Union), a more militant party which came to appeal to the Shona majority in Southern Rhodesia. During renewed internment (1964–74) he was elected leader of ZANU, though he also used this time to obtain a doctorate in law. Following his release he went to Mozambique to oversee a vast increase in ZANU guerrilla activity from there, while at the same time forging an alliance with ZAPU to form the Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF).

After the end of the civil war and the transition to democratic government he won a landslide victory in the parliamentary elections in 1980. Disputes with Nkomo led to the temporary breakup of the Patriotic Front in 1982, and it was not re-established until 29 December 1987. As President from 1 January 1988, his rule became autocratic and almost unassailable, though he shied away from implementing the radical Marxist policies to which he paid lip-service. Originally a man of integrity and vision, he won the trust of the White settlers and even of many of the rival Matabele tribe during the early years of his rule.

As the country grew poorer and his rule became more unpopular, he sought to maintain his power by increasingly autocratic and despotic means. He sought to placate an impoverished population by the forced expropriation of white farmers from 1999. Mugabe also persecuted opposition leaders, as well as critical journalists. In 2000 his attempt to extend his presidential powers through a change in the Constitution failed in a referendum. In the same year, Zanu-PF only barely won the parliamentary elections, obtaining 62 out of 120 seats. Mugabe amassed great personal wealth which he invested overseas, as his regime became increasingly corrupt. He won the 2002 presidential elections amidst widespread evidence of electoral fraud, triggering Zimbabwe's suspension from the Commonwealth.