I’ve made some ‘human rights errors’ admits Mugabe the monstrous dictator
ROBERT Mugabe has finally admitted to human rights abuses during his 37-year reign that ruined Zimbabwe and saw white farmers murdered, bullied and stripped of their land.
The despot, who was deposed last year, conceded that ‘some errors’ were made as he turned the country from a wealthy, fledgling democracy to a basketcase.
In his first TV interview since being ejected in November the 94-year-old also insisted he was the victim of a military coup.
‘It was truly a military takeover,’ he told ITV News. ‘We must undo this disgrace, which we have imposed on ourselves. We don’t deserve it, we don’t deserve it.’
The former president, who was last year described by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson as ‘a despot who impoverished his country’, was asked about human rights abuses under his rule. He said: ‘Yes, we have been accused of that and on that side, yes, some errors were done.’
ITV News correspondent John Ray told Mr Mugabe that he was to blame for any errors but the former president replied: ‘No. It weren’t that bad in comparison to other countries.’
He also denied that he had destroyed Zimbabwe’s economy and challenged suggestions that the once-wealthy country had been ‘ruined’ under his rule.
He replied: ‘Ah ruined, ruined, of course no. If anything, in comparison to other countries in Africa there is greater prosperity here and people have their land.’
The former despot spoke from an office in his luxurious villa in the capital, Harare. He sat at a desk in front of a portrait of himself with wife Grace, 52, nicknamed ‘Gucci Grace’ for her love of designer clothes.
Amnesty International and other human rights organisations reported over decades how Mr Mugabe’s Zimbabwe suffered from police repression, political torture and murders, beatings, and voting irregularities.
Emmerson Mnangagwa – a former security chief known as ‘The Crocodile’ – became president last November.