Robert Mugabe: A Short History
Zimbabwe's Dictator is Hearing Renewed Dismissal Requests
Dec 13, 2008
"President" Robert Mugabe has now controlled Zimbabwaen government and politics for the best part of 30 years both as Prime Minister and President of the Sub-Saharan African state. However, his rule has been marred by a long history of intimidation, lies, corruption and even what some would call insanity. Seemingly, the further Zimbabwe progresses towards absolute disarray the further Mugabe delves into his own reality in which he is still the most popular leader of a nation on the rise. In reality though Zimbabwe is a disaster zone and Mugabe is facing calls from both the domestic and international community to end his reign.
The Rise of Robert Mugabe to Power
Robert Mugabe served as the Secretary General of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) during the 1960's and was a part of the guerilla movement against white minority rule in Zimbabwe during the 1960's and 70's. He served as a political prisoner in Rhodesia (former Zimbabwe) for much of this time and with the end of the Zimbabwean civil war in 1979 Mugabe emerged as a military hero. He did not participate in the elections of 1979 in which Abel Muzowera became the first black prime minister in a country where just 4% of the population is white. However in 1980 he won the parliamentary election with approximately 64% of the popular vote though the process was marred amid speculations that intimidation and violence tactics had been used. Mugabe himself had claimed that should he not be named prime-minister he would continue the civil war.
Upon his election Mugabe was hailed by the international community as a new type of African leader and at a time where Zimbabwe was both economically and socially on the rise it seemed to be a positive move forward for the nation. Since that time Mugabe has continued to win elections however each had more stipulation around it then its predecessor with regards to the tactics used by the ZANU party and Robert Mugabe.
Critique of Mugabe's Campaign
Throughout Mugabe's reign originally as Prime Minister and from 1987 onwards as President of Zimbabwe both opposing party leaders and opposing media and journalists have either gone missing or been involved in horrific accidents. As a result Mugabe's campaign has recieved frequent criticism and allegations of mispractice.
Mugabe has also been accused of both racism and prejudice against homosexuality during his multiple terms in office. He has been coined as being racially prejudiced towards white people and was called "the worst type of racist dictator" by Uganda-born Archbishop John Sentamu. He has also been likened to Adolf Hitler for his views on race and has often accused both his opposers and the United Kingdom of supporting white imperialism. There are no speculations over his views on homosexuality and Mugabe himself has openly condemned any acts of public homosexual acts. During the Zimbabwe International Book Fair Mugabe stated:
"If you see people parading themselves as lesbians and gays, arrest them and hand them over to the police!"
Recent Calls for Resignation
As of the 2008 March elections in which opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai recieved the majority vote yet did not replace Mugabe as President the international community has renewed calls for Mugabe to resign. This was exemplified when Mugabe signed a power-sharing agreement in which Tsvangirai would be named Prime-minister and Mugabe would not relieve power over any key ministries.The G8 publicly critisized his campaign stating:
"The G8 do not accept the legitimacy of a government that does not reflect the will of the Zimbabwean people".
With inflation in the nation reaching into the millions, a useless currency, thousands dying of hunger and more recently a horrific cholera outbreak much of the Western world and indeed many African states have called for Mugabe to give up the Zimbabwean Presidency. In response to these statements Mugabe has claimed that his opposers are simply attempting create reason for war in the country.
Indeed it seems Zimbabwe is in a very dark period in its history and the majority of the world believe the solution is to be rid of President Robert Mugabe. Whether he accepts this and resigns and whether this solution would even achieve anything remains to be seen.
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