Potential end of an era for a notorious ruler
The era of Robert Mugabe, one of Africa’s most notorious rulers, may be over. For almost four decades, he brutally crushed many of his domestic critics and opponents.
Once a political opponent himself, Mugabe grew up in Southern Rhodesia, a former British selfgoverning colony. After becoming a schoolteacher, he joined an opposition group to oppose British rule but was jailed and later forced into exile in Mozambique. With the British withdrawal from the territory of Southern Rhodesia, Mugabe grasped the opportunity and ran in national elections on the promise to distribute the country’s resources in a more equitable fashion.
But what began as a promise of a better future soon turned into violence and repression. Here’s a summary of those four decades:
February 1980: Mugabe escapes attempt on his life
Guerrilla leader Robert Mugabe narrowly escaped injury when 80 pounds of remote- controlled explosives were detonated under a convoy of cars taking him to the Fort Victoria Airport in Southern Rhodesia.
April 1980: Mugabe takes oath as prime minister after Zimbabwe gains independence
Mugabe took the oath of office shortly after midnight in a ceremony at Salisbury’s main stadium while representatives of about 100 countries and about 35,000 cheering Zimbabweans watched. Mugabe, the guerrilla leader most feared by the white- minority community before his election a month earlier, made an eloquent plea to the people of Zimbabwe to end the hatred of seven years of war. “The wrongs of the past must now stand forgiven and forgotten,” the new prime minister said. “If yesterday I fought you as an enemy, today you have become a friend and ally with the same national interest, loyalty, rights and duties as myself.”
1980: The exodus of Zimbabwe’s white population
About 1,500 to 2,000 people a month leave the country following the country’s declaration of independence.
Starting in 1982: Mugabe accused of military atrocities against opponents
Zimbabwe’s military begins an operation in the Matabeleland region against a perceived uprising. “Villagers, clergymen and mission hospital workers told journalists on an army- escorted trip through the region of summary executions, beatings and rapes they said were committed by soldiers in an offensive against anti- government dissidents.”
July 1985: Mugabe stays in power despite allegations of human rights violations
Mugabe wins a landslide victory in the first national election since coming to power.
1987: Mugabe is declared president
The newly created position also makes him the head of state and the commander in chief, in addition to being head of government, vastly expanding his powers and those of his party, the ZANU- PF.
1994: Mugabe becomes an honorary British knight
In a sign of how popular Mugabe is at the time, both domestically and internationally, the leader is awarded the honorary British knighthood. ( It is later withdrawn in 2008.)
Starting in 2000: Mugabe’s land- seizure campaign
Despite the resistance, Mugabe pursues the controversial seizure of properties owned by whites. Hundreds of the president’s relatives and supporters, ( including his wife) as well as senior government officials and their families, have been given commercial farms seized from white owners. The evictions have come as southern Africa is grappling with its worst food shortage in decades, and critics say Mugabe’s land grab has combined with drought to worsen the situation by replacing Zimbabwe’s most productive farmers with inexperienced ones.
March 2005: As an election nears, Mugabe uses famine as a political weapon
Ahead of a parliamentary election in April 2005, Mugabe’s regime decides to withhold food deliveries from political opponents, as resistance against his government reaches unprecedented levels.
April 2005: Mugabe wins another election
Zimbabwe’s opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, ruled out organizing demonstrations against what he called the “fraudulent” results ( of the) parliamentary elections, saying his party could not mount a protest large enough to force Mugabe from power.
Late 2000s: Hyperinflation destabilizes the regime
Zimbabwe is in the grips of its worst crisis since independence from Britain in 1980. Power, water, health and communications systems are collapsing, and there are acute shortages of staple foods and gasoline. Unemployment is around 80 per cent, and political unrest is high.
2008: Mugabe loses presidential election but remains in power
After Mugabe announces his plans to resign following a major electoral defeat, Zimbabwe’s military chief urges him to stay in office — indicating a tightening grip of the military on Mugabe’s government.
September 2008: Power- sharing deal is signed in Zimbabwe
Mugabe ceded a large share of control over Zimbabwe’s government in a power- sharing agreement that loosened his absolute hold over the country.
2009: Mugabe’s prestige project, free public education, falls apart
As recently as the 1990s, Zimbabwe’s public education system was considered the best in sub- Saharan Africa, producing a literacy rate that still hovers around 90 per cent. But the system is now on the brink of collapse.
2013: Mugabe’s party wins back majority
In an election widely derided as rigged by critics and observers, Mugabe’s party achieves a majority and ends the need for a powersharing agreement.
2016: New anti- government protests
In 2016, protests erupt against the government which are mainly rooted in the country’s continuously weak economy.