BBC ON THIS DAY | 4 | 1980: Mugabe's landslide 1980: Mugabe's landslide Robert Mugabe was elected to be the first black prime minister of Zimbabwe on 4 March 1980. Many whites living in the country were astounded that the man they labelled a terrorist Marxist should win by such a landslide. And black opposition leader Bishop Abel Muzorewa - previously a favourite to win the election - also expressed concern at the nationalist leader's victory. But thousands of supporters took to the streets, singing and dancing, to celebrate the former exile's triumph at the polls. The following comments reflect the balance of opinion we have received so far. I was thrilled and on cloud nine when ZANU PF won the elections. This was not Mugabe's victory, but for black Zimbabweans. I personally think this was the day all Zimbabweans were born. Shumba, UK It was one of the joyful moments of my life. The guerrillas had promised us that we would turn the "Dakota"- a plane used by Rhodesian forces - into a wheelbarrow. These were wild promises that we wanted to see come true.

We sang and I remember my teacher stopping a lesson to shout in praise of the 1980 election results. It marked the end to an era. I think we lost it maybe because of the wild dreams that we had been taught during the war. We received a lot of donations from all over the world and we had text books in our classrooms. There seemed to have been a master plan for achieving independence but at the same there seemed to be no master plan for the aftermath. We failed to note that the people in the West are rich because they work hard all the time to keep the balance between what they spend and what they earn the same. We did the reverse and tilted the beam towards the other side. Zimbabweans should work for peace as a family and stop feuding. We can fight and win arguments today, but are we going to win forever? Nhata, UK This had to be the greatest day in the history of black Zimbabweans. Never again were we to be treated as second class citizens in our own countries. Twenty-five years on, Zimbabwe is still a vibrant democracy contrary to what the Western media believes. Times are tough but nothing, and I mean nothing will ever make the people of Zimbabwe submit to white minority rule again.

Tendai, Zimbabwe As a member of the Rhodesian Intelligence community it was patently obvious that the upcoming British supervised independence election was not going to be free and fair. Mugabe's armed thugs, in the dark of night, visited all the outlying villages saying: "We are the only party that can end the war. If you don't vote for us, the killing will continue. Remember we will know who you voted for and will return and shoot all your family." The British Government, via Soames the acting Governor, was made aware of this but chose to ignore this intimidation. He had his orders from Whitehall which were probably "Get us out of this mess at all costs!" Well the "Iron Lady" got her wish, and the people of Zimbabwe live with the consequence today. Roger James, USA I remember the emotion of this day - I was in tears. For years we had been fighting this terrorist who had murdered countless numbers of our own fellow countrymen in his bid to terrorise and control the country. Should we be surprised that he "won" the elections? History (and the West) are trying to portray him as a liberator. I know differently.

I had to help recover, on more than one occasion, the disfigured bodies of those poor innocent black civilians whom he chose to burn alive. I cannot forgive him or the West for the support they give him. As a result of this I find I now cannot accept, with complete confidence, any of the lessons history chooses to teach us about the Nazis or Iraq. The media and its interpretation of events is nothing more than a well-oiled propaganda machine on some insidious mission. Who do we turn to now? Geoff Oliver, UK The night of the March 4, 1980, I watched the news while I was in G�ttingen, West Germany. "Robert Mugabe has just won the elections in Rhodesia," said the newscaster. As a staunch supporter of ZAPU, I remember this day vividly. When we lost I cried. Remembering how ZAPU cadres had been killed by ZANLA back in Tanzania, I thought, there would not be peace in Zimbabwe. I had to swallow the bitter pill and move on. What did that lead to? Gukurahundi massacres of the 80's. Ndebeles like me were terrorised.

It's 25 years later and he is still in power. The country is in shambles, economically and otherwise. And I am in exile once again. I have never experienced a free Zimbabwe yet. Will it ever come in my life time? Themba ka Ndlovu, Switzerland/Zimbabwe I as working as a reporter with Zimbabwe Television on the day Mugabe won the election. I recall I went into the bank to deposit a check. The bank teller was amazed. Everyone else had withdrawn their money, preparing to flee the country. Most white people believed they would be run out of the country. People had filled their cars with gas and pulled out all their cash to be ready to flee. I also was producing the country's main TV newscast that night. I received an order from the Ministry of Information to change all references to high level leaders in ZANU-PF (Mugabe's party) to "comrade" instead of "mister". Our news reader that night was a white woman who was shocked and horrified to be referring to these people on air as "comrades". It was a very unusual time in that country.

Gary Worth, USA Robert Mugabe - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com Google Robert Mugabe: From Teacher to Freedom Fighter Robert Gabriel Mugabe was born February 21, 1924, in Katuma, a Jesuit mission station 50 miles west of the Southern Rhodesian capital. His father, Gabriel Matibili, was a carpenter from Nyasaland (later Malawi). His mother, Bona, belonged to the prominent Shona ethnic group. Did You Know? Originally known as Southern Rhodesia and later as Zimbabwe Rhodesia, Zimbabwe was renamed upon gaining independence from Britain in 1980. The name comes from a Shona term for the kingdom that controlled the area between 1220 and 1450. Mugabe graduated from Katuma’s St. Francis Xavier College in 1945. For the next 15 years he taught in Rhodesia and Ghana and pursued further education at Fort Hare University in South Africa. In Ghana he met and married his first wife, Sally Hayfron. In 1960 Mugabe joined the pro-independence National Democratic Party, becoming its publicity secretary.

In 1961 the NDP was banned and reformed as the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union (ZAPU). Two years later Mugabe left ZAPU for the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU, later ZANU-PF), his present political home. Robert Mugabe: Prison and Exile In 1964 ZANU was banned by Rhodesia’s colonial government and Mugabe was imprisoned. A year later, premier Ian Smith issued a Unilateral Declaration of Independence to create the white-ruled state of Rhodesia, short-circuiting Britain’s plans for majority rule and triggering international condemnation. In prison Mugabe taught English to his fellow prisoners and earned multiple graduate degrees by correspondence from the University of London. Freed in 1974, Mugabe went into exile in Zambia and Mozambique, and in 1977 he gained full control of ZANU’s political and military fronts. He adopted Marxist and Maoist views and received arms and training from Asia and Eastern Europe, but he still maintained good relations with Western donors.

Robert Mugabe: The Creation of Zimbabwe A 1978 accord between Smith’s government and moderate black leaders paved the way for the election of Bishop Abel Muzorewa as prime minister of the state known as Zimbabwe Rhodesia, but it lacked international recognition because ZANU and ZAPU had not participated. In 1979 the British-brokered Lancaster House Agreement brought the major parties together to agree to majority rule while protecting the rights and property of the white minority. After winning new elections on March 4, 1980, Mugabe worked to convince the new country’s 200,000 whites, including 4,500 commercial farmers, to stay. In 1982 Mugabe sent his North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade to the ZAPU stronghold of Matabeleland to smash dissent. Over five years, 20,000 Ndebele civilians were killed as part of a campaign of alleged political genocide. In 1987 Mugabe switched tactics, inviting ZAPU to be merged with the ruling ZANU-PF and creating a de facto one-party authoritarian state with himself as the ruling president.

Robert Mugabe: The Road to Tyranny During the 1990s Mugabe was reelected twice, became a widower and remarried. In 1998 he sent Zimbabwean troops to intervene in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s civil war—a move many viewed as a grab for the country’s diamonds and valuable minerals. In 2000 Mugabe organized a referendum on a new Zimbabwean constitution that would expand the powers of the presidency and allow the government to seize white-owned land. Groups opposed to the constitution formed the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), which successfully campaigned for a “no” vote in the referendum. That same year, groups of individuals calling themselves “war veterans”—though many were not old enough to have been part of Zimbabwe’s independence struggle—began invading white-owned farms. Violence caused many of Zimbabwe’s whites to flee the country. Zimbabwe’s commercial farming collapsed, triggering years of hyperinflation and food shortages that created a nation of impoverished billionaires.

Robert Mugabe: Recent Years After a 2008 election marred by ZANU-PF-sponsored violence, Mugabe was pressured by his regional allies to form an inclusive government with MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai as vice president. Even while implementing the accord, Mugabe kept up the pressure, subjecting MDC parliamentarians to arrest, imprisonment and torture. Mugabe has no obvious anointed successor, making it unclear what direction the country will take after its only post-independence leader dies or finally loses an election. Tags Robert Mugabe Elected ⋆ History Channel Podcasts Robert Mugabe Elected On this day in 1980, following a controversial campaign, African nationalist leader Robert Mugabe was elected prime minister of Zimbabwe in a sweeping election victory. Before being elected, Mugabe made a name for himself by leading a lengthy and bloody guerilla war against white colonial rulers of what was then Rhodesia. For this, he was hailed as a hero in his nation’s liberation struggle by black Africans, and a denounced a terrorist Marxist by many whites and by his opponents.

During his nationalist struggle, Mugabe joined the National Democratic Party (NDP) in 1960, which later became the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU). In 1963, he left ZAPU and joined its rival, the Zimbabwe African National Union (Patriotic Front) party, or ZANU (PF). ZANU and Mugabe were influenced by the ideals of the Pan African Congress in South Africa as well as by Maoism. Within a year’s time, tensions between the two groups boiled over into violent conflict, the groups were banned, and their leaders, including Mugabe, were arrested and imprisoned. Mugabe’s imprisonment only served to boost his reputation and in 1974, while still incarcerated, Mugabe was elected to take the reins of a new, more militant ZANU. By this time, it also became clear that white minority rule of Zimbabwe could not continue. In the famous Lancaster House agreements, a party of leading politicians, including Mugabe, decided on a constitution for a new Republic of Zimbabwe with elections to be held in 1980. The campaign was intense, punctuated by intimidation, abuse, and mistrust on all sides.

On 4 March 1980, Mugabe was decisively elected prime minister of the country’s new government. His ZANU party had won 57 of the 80 parliament seats, a comfortable majority considering 20 seats were reserved for whites. After the election, thousands of primarily black supporters took the streets to celebrate Mugabe’s victory and the end of white minority role. In a broadcast television message soon after the election, Mugabe said, “I wish to assure you that there can never be any return to the state of armed conflict which existed before our commitment to peace and the democratic process of election under the Lancaster House agreement.” More than 30 years later, it’s unclear whether Mugabe’s legacy will be that of a liberator, as he was first viewed, or that of a ruthlessly autocratic strongman whose policies have all but collapsed the nation’s economy. Today, after several dubious re-elections, the 88-year-old’s 30-plus-year grip on power is weakening, along with his popularity.

Credit: BRIAN HARRIS / Alamy Robert Mugabe Fast Facts - CNN.com Mother: Bona Mugabe Marriages: Grace Marufu (August 17, 1996-present); Sally Heyfron (February 21, 1961-January 27, 1992, her death) Children: With Grace Marufa: two sons and one daughter; with Sally Heyfron: one son, died at 4 years old. Education: University of Fort Hare, B.A., 1951; University of London, L.L.B Timeline: 1952-1959 - Teaches school in Southern and Northern Rhodesia and Ghana. 1960-1961 - Returns to Southern Rhodesia and works as publicity secretary for the National Democratic Party. 1963 - Co-founds the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) with Ndabaningi Sithole in Tanzania after having fled Rhodesia. 1964-1974 - Upon returning to Rhodesia is arrested and imprisoned for 10 years.

Continues his education while incarcerated and earns university degrees in education, economics, administration and law from the University of London. 1974-1979 - Is released from prison and leads the ZANU-PF, the guerilla movement, from Mozambique. 1977 - Is elected president of ZANU-PF and commander-in-chief of Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA). April 18, 1980-December 31, 1987 - After February elections, serves as the first prime minister of Zimbabwe. Helps form the Republic of Zimbabwe after British rule of Rhodesia comes to an end. December 31, 1987 - Is elected by the national assembly to a four-year term after a new constitution replaces the office of prime minister with an executive president. March 1990 - Is re-elected by popular majority, after a constitutional revision, to a six-year term. 1993 - Threatens to expel white landowners who object to the 1992 Land Acquisition Act permitting the government to force them to give up their land for redistribution to black Zimbabweans.

March 1996 - Is re-elected, in what becomes a one-man contest, after all other opponents drop out days before the election. 2000 - Mugabe begins ordering white farmers to give up their land. Some 4,000 farmers lose their land and Zimbabwe's agricultural output decreases sharply. October 15, 2001 - Announces countrywide shift to socialist-styled economy after 12 years of a market-driven one. 2002 - The European Union and the United States impose targeted sanctions on Mugabe and some senior ZANU-PF party members after widespread reports of human rights violations. March 2002 - Is re-elected to another six-year presidential term amid charges of fraud and "state-sponsored-terrorism." June 24, 2002 - Prepares to enforce the redistribution of land from whites to blacks, issues orders to white farmers to stop working their farms and vacate their property, despite the country's worst famine in 60 years. December 7, 2003 - Withdraws Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth, a 54-nation organization of Great Britain and her former colonies.

August 2004 - Accusations by Human Rights Watch state that starvation is being used as a tool for the regime's support among Zimbabweans. Farm output has decreased sharply since Mugabe began his policy of land grabs. July 16, 2007 - The University of Edinburgh withdraws the honorary degree it awarded Mugabe in 1984 for his services to education in Africa. "The removal of this honorary degree shows the people of Zimbabwe that we recognize their struggle," Edinburgh University rector Mark Ballard states. April 2, 2008 - Results of the March 29, 2008 election are released by Zimbabwe's Electoral Commission and show that Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party has lost control of parliament. June 12, 2008 - The University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees revokes the honorary law degree it gave to Mugabe in 1986. June 22, 2008 - Amid election fraud, violence, and arrests targeting his party and its supporters, opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai states that he is dropping out of the race, effectively handing the presidency back to Mugabe.

June 25, 2008 - Britain's Queen Elizabeth II strips Mugabe of an honorary knighthood awarded in 1994 by former Prime Minister John Major. June 27, 2008 - Mugabe wins the runoff election held in Zimbabwe amid worldwide controversy. He is the only candidate. June 29, 2008 - Mugabe is sworn in for his sixth term as Zimbabwe's president. September 15, 2008 - Mugabe signs a power-sharing deal with political rival Morgan Tsvangirai in order to end months of unrest. Mugabe will remain president and Tsvangirai will assume post of prime minister and coordinator of government affairs. February 11, 2009 - Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is sworn in as prime minister of Zimbabwe by Mugabe as part of a new unity government. February 28, 2009 - Mugabe celebrates his 85th birthday with a lavish party, costing a reported $250,000 , despite the fact that Zimbabwe is gripped by an economic and health crisis.

December 17, 2010 - Mugabe threatens to seize all Western-owned investments in Zimbabwe unless their governments remove targeted sanctions imposed on him and his senior party members. March 18, 2013 - Mugabe arrives in Italy for the inauguration of Pope Francis . Despite the European Union travel ban imposed on him, he is allowed to enter the country on religious grounds. August 3, 2013 - The head of the Zimbabwe Election Commission announces that Mugabe has retained his position as president with 61.09% of the vote, ending the power-sharing agreement signed in 2008. Challenger Morgan Tsvangirai alleges widespread fraud and promises a court challenge. President Robert Mugabe is Reelected as President of Zimbabwe | World History Project President Robert Mugabe is Reelected as President of Zimbabwe Robert Gabriel Karigamombe Mugabe (born 21 February 1924) is the current President of Zimbabwe. He has held power as the head of government since 1980, as Prime Minister from 1980 to 1987, and as the first executive head of state since 1987.

In 2008, his party suffered a defeat in national elections, but Mugabe retained power after his party's violence against opposition supporters caused the opposition candidate to pull out of a subsequent run-off. Source: Wikipedia Added by: Aimee Lucido The Republic of Zimbabwe held a presidential election along with a parliamentary election on 29 March 2008. The three major candidates were incumbent President Robert Mugabe of the Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and Simba Makoni, an independent. As no candidate received an outright majority in the first round, a second round was held on 27 June 2008 between Tsvangirai (with 47.9% of the first round vote) and Mugabe (43.2%). Tsvangirai withdrew from the second round a week before it was scheduled to take place, citing violence against his party's supporters. The second round went ahead, despite widespread criticism, and led to victory for Mugabe.

Source: Wikipedia Added by: Aimee Lucido More information Robert Mugabe (Politician) - Pics, Videos, Dating, & News Robert Mugabe Male Born Feb 21, 1924 Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980. He served as Prime Minister from 1980 to 1987, and as the first executive head of state since 1987. Mugabe rose to prominence in the 1960s as the Secretary General of the Zimbabwe African National Union during the conflict against the white-minority rule government of Ian Smith.… Read More related links Zimbabwe Telecoms Hike Draws Charges Of Social Media Crackdown Yahoo News - 7 days ago ' By MacDonald Dzirutwe HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe\'s biggest mobile telephone company has pushed up data charges by a multiple of 25 in line with new regulations, prompting critics to complain that President <mark>Robert Mugabe</mark>\'s government is trying to throttle the use of social media.

Econet Wireless\'s new cheapest data package, which came into effect on Wednesday night, will see users get 10 megabytes for $1, compared with 250 megabytes for the same amount previously. Last year,... How Fidel Castro's Legacy Lives On In Africa Huffington Post - Dec 29, 2016 'On November 25, 2016, the mastermind of Cuba\'s 1959 revolution, Fidel Castro, died at age 90. Even though Castro was criticized in the West for the authoritarian nature of his rule and egregious human rights abuses, his death prompted an outpouring of grief in the developing world. Sub-Saharan African leaders reacted in an especially strong manner. The leaders of South Africa, Equatorial Guinea and Zimbabwe attended his funeral, and days of mourning were declared across the continent to com... Fake News And The Winds Of Hate Roil The U.S. Huffington Post - Dec 21, 2016 'There is an ill wind blowing across the nation. Sometimes it is a foul gale, other times just a smelly zephyr.

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Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of Robert Mugabe. CHILDHOOD 1924 Birth Born on February 21, 1924. TWENTIES He qualified as a teacher, but left to study at Fort Hare in South Africa graduating in 1951, while meeting contemporaries such as Julius Nyerere, Herbert Chitepo, Robert Sobukwe and Kenneth Kaunda. … Read More He then studied at Salisbury (1953), Gwelo (1954), and Tanzania (1955â57). Read Less Originally graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Fort Hare in 1951, Mugabe subsequently earned six further degrees through distance learning including a Bachelor of Administration and Bachelor of Education from the University of South Africa and a Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Laws, Master of Science, and Master of Laws, all from the University of London External Programme. … Read More The two Law degrees were earned while he was in prison, the Master of Science degree earned during his premiership of Zimbabwe.

Read Less THIRTIES 1955 31 Years Old After graduating, Mugabe lectured at Chalimbana Teacher Training College in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) from 1955â58, thereafter he taught at Apowa Secondary School at Takoradi, in the Western region of Ghana after completing his local certification at Achimota School (1958â60), where he met Sally Hayfron, whom he married in April 1961. … Read More During his stay in Ghana, he was influenced and inspired by Ghana's then Prime Minister, Kwame Nkrumah. In addition, Mugabe and some of his Zimbabwe African National Union party cadres received instruction at the Kwame Nkrumah Ideological Institute, then at Winneba in southern Ghana. Read Less 1960 36 Years Old Mugabe returned to Southern Rhodesia and joined the National Democratic Party (NDP) in 1960.

… Read More After the administration of Prime Minister Edgar Whitehead banned the NDP in September 1961, it almost immediately reformed as the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union (ZAPU), led by Joshua Nkomo. Read Less Show Less Mugabe left ZAPU in 1963 to join the breakaway Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), which had been formed by the Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole, Edgar Tekere, Edson Zvobgo, Enos Nkala and lawyer Herbert Chitepo. … Read More ZANU was influenced by the Africanist ideas of the Pan Africanist Congress in South Africa and influenced by Maoism while ZAPU was an ally of the African National Congress and was a supporter of a more orthodox pro-Soviet line on national liberation. Similar divisions can also be seen in the independence movement in Angola between the MPLA and UNITA. It would have been easy for the party to split along tribal lines between the Ndebele and Mugabe's own Shona tribe, but cross-tribal representation was maintained by his partners. ZANU leader Sithole nominated Robert Mugabe as his Secretary General.

Read Less … Mugabe holds several honorary degrees and doctorates from international universities, awarded to him in the 1980s; at least three of these have since been revoked. In June 2007, he became the first international figure ever to be stripped of an honorary degree by a British university, when the University of Edinburgh withdrew the degree awarded to him in 1984. On 12 June 2008, the University of Massachusetts Amherst Board of Trustees voted to revoke the law degree awarded to Mugabe in 1986; this is the first time one of its honorary degrees has been revoked. Similarly, on 12 September 2008, Michigan State University revoked an honorary law degree that it awarded Mugabe in 1990. He has been appointed as a UN "leader of Tourism". <br /><br />His first wife, First Lady Sally Hayfron, died in 1992 from a chronic kidney ailment.

Read Less Their only son, Michael Nhamodzenyika Mugabe, born 27 September 1963, died on 26 December 1966 from cerebral malaria in Ghana where Sally was working while Mugabe was in prison. … Read More Sally Mugabe was a trained teacher who asserted her position as an independent political activist and campaigner. She was seen as Mugabe's closest friend and adviser, and some critics suggest that Mugabe began to misrule Zimbabwe after her death.<br /><br /> While married to Hayfron, Mugabe began an extra-marital affair with his secretary, Grace Marufu, who was 41 years his junior. Grace first became pregnant by Mugabe while both were still married (Grace being married to Stanley Goreraza, whom she subsequently divorced). The couple went on to have a second child. Read Less FORTIES 1964 40 Years Old During early 1964 tension between the two rival nationalist parties boiled over into violent conflict within the black townships.

"Many people were killed as rival former colleagues the nationalist movement turned against each other," write David Martin and Phyllis Johnson; "Homes and stores were burned and looted." … Read More The government reacted by arresting political agitators for criminal offences and jailing Nkomo in Gonakudzingwa Restriction Camp, a remote detention unit in the south-east of the country. After members of ZANU murdered a farmer, Petrus Oberholzer, on 4 July 1964, ZANU and ZAPU were officially banned on 26 August 1964; their leaders, including Mugabe, were shortly arrested and imprisoned indefinitely. ZAPU figures joined Nkomo at Gonakudzingwa while the leaders of ZANU were briefly held in turn at two similar units near Gwelo (Gweru since 1982), first Wha Wha, then, from 15 June 1965, Sikombela, before being transferred permanently to Salisbury Prison on 8 November 1965.

Mugabe earned numerous further degrees by correspondence courses while detained, including three from the University of London: degrees in Law and Economics respectively and a Bachelor of Administration. Read Less 1966 42 Years Old When his three-year-old son Nhamodzenyika died from malaria in Ghana in late 1966, Mugabe petitioned the prison governor to leave on parole to attend the funeral in Accra, the Ghanaian capital. … Read More The Prime Minister Ian Smith intervened personally to prevent this. Read Less FIFTIES In 1974, while still incarcerated, Mugabe was electedâwith the powerful influence of Edgar Tekereâto take over the reins of ZANU after a no-confidence vote was passed on Ndabaningi SitholeâMugabe himself abstained from voting. … Read More His time in prison burnished his reputation and helped his cause.

Read Less Following a South African dÃ©tente initiative, Mugabe was released from prison in December 1974 along with other Nationalist leaders and having initially travelled to Zambia, where he was ignored by Kenneth Kaunda, returned then left with Edgar Tekere in April 1975 for Mozambique assisted by a Dominican nun, where he was later placed in temporary protective custody by President Samora Machel, the suspicion was duly quelled by Commander Solomon Mujuru, and Mugabe & Tekere were able to provide the leadership to kickstart the armed struggle after the tragic death of Chairman Herbert Chitepo. … Read More According to Eddie Cross who participated in interviews of the leadership at that time to determine their views on the "longer term future", Mugabe's political viewpoint was that "a new 'progressive' society could not be constructed on the foundations of the past that they would have to destroy most of what had been built up after 1900 before a new society, based on subsistence and peasant values could be constructed".

Read Less 1975 - 1979 2 More Events 1975 51 Years Old Mugabe unilaterally assumed control of ZANU after the death of Herbert Chitepo on 18 March 1975. … Read More Later that year, after squabbling with Ndabaningi Sithole, Mugabe formed a militant ZANU faction, leaving Sithole to lead the moderate Zanu (Ndonga) party. Many opposition leaders mysteriously died during this time (including one who allegedly died in a car crash, although the car was rumoured to have been riddled with bullet holes at the scene of the accident). Additionally, an opposing newspaper's printing press was bombed and its journalists tortured.<br /><br /> Under pressure from Henry Kissinger, South African Prime Minister B. J. Vorster persuaded his Rhodesian counterpart Ian Smith to accept in principle that white minority rule could not continue indefinitely. On 3 March 1978 Bishop Abel Muzorewa, Ndabaningi Sithole and other moderate leaders signed an agreement at the Governor's Lodge in Salisbury, which paved the way for an interim power-sharing government, in preparation for elections.

The elections were won by the United African National Council under Bishop Abel Muzorewa, but international recognition did not follow and sanctions were not lifted. The two 'Patriotic Front' groups under Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo refused to participate and continued the war. Read Less 1979 55 Years Old … The incoming government did accept an invitation to talks at Lancaster House in September 1979. A ceasefire was negotiated for the talks, which were attended by Smith, Mugabe, Nkomo, Zvobgo and others. Eventually the parties to the talks agreed on a new constitution for a new Republic of Zimbabwe with elections in February 1980. The Lancaster Agreement saw Mugabe make two important and contentious concessions. First, he allowed 20 seats to be reserved for whites in the new Parliament, and second, he agreed to a ten-year moratorium on constitutional amendments. Read Less His return to Zimbabwe in December 1979, following the completion of the Lancaster House Agreement, was greeted with enormous supportive crowds.

… Read More After a campaign marked by intimidation from all sides, mistrust from security forces and reports of full ballot boxes found on the road, the Shona majority was decisive in electing Mugabe to head the first government as prime minister on 4 March 1980. ZANU won 57 out of 80 Common Roll seats in the new parliament, with the 20 white seats all going to the Rhodesian Front.<br /><br /> Mugabe, whose political support came from his Shona-speaking homeland in the north, attempted to build Zimbabwe on a basis of an uneasy coalition with his ZAPU rivals, whose support came from the Ndebele-speaking south, and with the white minority. Mugabe sought to incorporate ZAPU into his ZANU led government and ZAPU's military wing into the army. ZAPU's leader, Joshua Nkomo, was given a series of cabinet positions in Mugabe's government. However, Mugabe was torn between this objective and pressures to meet the expectations of his own ZANU followers for a faster pace of social change.

Read Less Show Less … Robert Gabriel Mugabe (born 21 February 1924) is the current President of Zimbabwe, serving since 22 December 1987. Read Less As one of the leaders of the rebel groups in opposition to white minority rule, he was elected Prime Minister in 1980, serving in that office as head of the government, until 1987, when he became the country's first executive head of state. … Read More He has led the Zimbabwe African National Union â Patriotic Front (ZANUâPF) since 1975. Read Less … During the 1980s Mugabe's policies were largely socialist in orientation. In 1980 and 1981 the Zimbabwean economy showed strong growth of the GDP with 10.6% and 12.5%. From 1982â89 economic growth averaged just 2.7% (1980â89 average 4.47%).

The white minority government maintained (with economic sanctions) from 1966â72 a 6.7% average growth rate and overall from 1966 till 1979 a 3.8% average growth rate. <br /><br />Unsuccessful market reform attempts were started in the 1990s and the economy stagnated in this time. Since 2000, GDP has declined by roughly 40% in part due to land reform and hyperinflation. <br /><br />In November 2010, the IMF described the Zimbabwean economy as "completing its second year of buoyant economic growth".

<br /><br />According to a 1995 World Bank report, after independence, "Zimbabwe gave priority to human resource investments and support for smallholder agriculture," and as a result, "smallholder agriculture expanded rapidly during the first half of the 1980s and social indicators improved quickly." Read Less From 1980 to 1990 infant mortality decreased from 86 to 49 per 1000 live births, under five mortality was reduced from 128 to 58 per 1000 live births, and immunisation increased from 25% to 80% of the population. … Read More Also, "child malnutrition fell from 22% to 12% and life expectancy increased from 56 to 64. By 1990, Zimbabwe had a lower infant mortality rate, higher adult literacy and higher school enrolment rate than average for developing countries".<br /><br /> In 1991, the government of Zimbabwe, short on hard currency and under international pressure, embarked on an austerity program.

The World Bank's 1995 report explained that such reforms were required because Zimbabwe was unable to absorb into its labour market the many graduates from its impressive education system and that it needed to attract additional foreign investments. The reforms, however, undermined the livelihoods of Zimbabwe's poor majority; the report noted "large segments of the population, including most smallholder farmers and small scale enterprises, find themselves in a vulnerable position with limited capacity to respond to evolving market opportunities. This is due to their limited access to natural, technical and financial resources, to the contraction of many public services for smallholder agriculture, and to their still nascent links with larger scale enterprises." Read Less Show Less … In 1983, Mugabe fired Nkomo from his cabinet, triggering bitter fighting between ZAPU supporters in the Ndebele-speaking region of the country and the ruling ZANU. Mugabe accused the Ndebele tribe of plotting to overthrow him after sacking Nkomo. Read Less Between 1982 and 1985, the military crushed armed resistance from Ndebele groups in the provinces of Matabeleland and the Midlands, leaving Mugabe's rule secure.

… Read More Mugabe has been accused by the BBC's Panorama programme of committing mass murder during this period of his rule, after the show investigated claims made by political activist Gary Jones that Mugabe had been instrumental in removing him and his family from his farmland. A peace accord was negotiated in 1987. ZAPU merged into the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) on 22 December 1988. Mugabe brought Nkomo into the government once again as a vice-president.<br /><br /> Mugabe planned to reorient the people of Matabeleland and Midlands, after he failed to win any seats there. Mugabe had been friends with Julius Nyerere, who had convinced him that the most effective way to progress post-colonial Africa was to embark on one-party politics. To him, democracy was a detraction that colonialists would use to destabilise newly independent countries. Read Less In 1982, Mugabe pretended to discover old Russian trucks and weapons, held in ZAPU farms for disposal. … Read More The weapons were known to the government and were beyond use after having been used in the Angola war.

He used this as an excuse to instigate a genocide in Matabeleland, resulting in over 20,000 deaths among the civilian population. The fact that there was no evidence for a planned ZAPU-led conflict was accepted by Zimbabwean courts, which acquitted Dumiso Dabengwa and General Lookout Masuku. Supporting the claim of prior-planning for crushing the people of Matabeleland and Midlands for standing in the way of his one-party state ambition is the fact that his North Korean army training agreement was signed in June 1980, long before any arms were allegedly found. Additionally, the 5th Brigade was never training in military tactics, such as defending a territory or mounting an offensive; they were training in civilian population military tactics. Mugabe himself noted that it was deployed to 'reorient the people' not to fight any dissidents. Read Less LATE ADULTHOOD Show Less … Mugabe rose to prominence in the 1960s as the leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) during the conflict against the conservative white-minority government of Rhodesia.

Mugabe was a political prisoner in Rhodesia for more than 10 years between 1964 and 1974. Upon release Mugabe, along with Edgar Tekere, immediately left Rhodesia with the assistance of Rekayi Tangwena in 1975 to launch the fight during the Rhodesian Bush War from bases in Mozambique. At the end of the war in 1979, Mugabe emerged as a hero in the minds of many Africans. He won the general elections of 1980 after calling for reconciliation between the former belligerents, including white Zimbabweans and rival political parties, and thereby became Prime Minister on Zimbabwe's independence in April 1980. <br /><br />Soon after independence Mugabe set about creating a ZANUâPF-run one-party state, establishing a North Korean-trained security force, the Fifth Brigade, in August 1981 to deal with internal dissidents. Mugabe attacked former allies ZAPU in which the Fifth Brigade crushed an armed rebellion by fighters loyal to his rival Joshua Nkomo, leader of the minority Ndebele tribe, in the province of Matabeleland.

Between 1982 and 1985 at least 20,000 people died in ethnic cleansing and were buried in mass graves. Read Less Mugabe consolidated his power in December 1987, when he was declared executive president by parliament, combining the roles of head of state, head of government, and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, with powers to dissolve parliament and declare martial law. In 1987, the position of Prime Minister was abolished and Mugabe assumed the new office of executive President of Zimbabwe gaining additional powers in the process. Show Less He was re-elected in 1990 and 1996, and in 2002 amid claims of widespread vote-rigging and intimidation.

Mugabe has been the Chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe since Parliament passed the University of Zimbabwe Amendment Bill in November 1990 and is also Chancellor of all state Universities including Bindura University, National University of Science and Technology, Midlands State University, Chinhoyi University of Science and Technology, Lupane State University, harare Institute of Technology, Great Zimbabwe University and Gwanda State University, 1995 71 Years Old … Moreover, these people were forced to live on marginal lands as Zimbabwe's best lands were reserved for mainly white landlords growing cash crops for export, a sector of the economy favoured by the IMF's plan. For the poor on the communal lands, "existing levels of production in these areas are now threatened by the environmental fragility of the natural resource base and the unsustainability of existing farming practices". The International Monetary Fund later suspended aid, saying reforms were "not on track." <br /><br />According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), life expectancy at birth for Zimbabwean men has since become 37 years and is 34 years for women, the lowest such figures for any nation.

Read Less The World Bank's 1995 report predicted this decline in life expectancy from its 1990 height of 64 years when, commenting on health care system cuts mandated by the IMF structural adjustment programme, it stated that "The decline in resources is creating strains and threatening the sustainability of health sector achievements". … Read More While Zimbabwe has suffered in many other measures under Mugabe, as a former schoolteacher he has been well known for his commitment to education. As of 2008, Zimbabwe had a literacy rate of 90%, the highest in Africa. However, Catholic Archbishop of Zimbabwe Pius Ncube decried the educational situation in the country, saying, among other scathing indictments of Mugabe, "We had the best education in Africa and now our schools are closing".<br /><br /> Prior to its suspension in 2009, the Zimbabwe dollar had suffered from the second-highest hyperinflation rate of any currency in modern times.<br /><br /> A number of people have accused Mugabe of having a racist attitude towards white people.

John Sentamu, the Uganda-born Archbishop of York in the United Kingdom, calls Mugabe "the worst kind of racist dictator," for having "targeted the whites for their apparent riches". Almost thirty years after ending white-minority rule in Zimbabwe, Mugabe accuses the United Kingdom and the United States of promoting white imperialism and regularly accuses opposition figures to his government of being allies of white imperialism. Read Less 1996 72 Years Old Following the death of Sally Hayfron, Mugabe was free to marry Grace which he did on 17 August 1996 in a Roman Catholic wedding Mass at Kutama College; a Catholic mission school he had previously attended. … Read More The wedding was presided over by the Archbishop of Harara, Patrick Fani Chakaipa. Nelson Mandela and Mugabe's two children by Grace were among the guests. Robert Mugabe has three children (one girl and two boys): Bona Mugabe, Robert Peter Mugabe Jr. and Chatunga Bellarmine Mugabe; and one stepson with Grace Mugabe, his second wife: Russell Goreraza.<br /><br /> As First Lady of Zimbabwe, Grace has been the subject of criticism for her lifestyle.

Her sometimes lavish international shopping sprees have led to the nickname "Gucci Grace". When she was included in the 2002 EU travel sanctions on her husband, one EU parliamentarian was quoted as saying that the ban "will stop Grace Mugabe going on her shopping trips in the face of catastrophic poverty blighting the people of Zimbabwe". Read Less Show Less … Mugabe telling journalists "I am still the Hitler of the time, This Hitler has only one objective, justice for his own people, sovereignty for his people, recognition of the independence of his people, and their right to their resources. If that is Hitler, then let me be a Hitler tenfold. Ten times, that is what we stand for." <br /><br />Mugabe has been uncompromising in his opposition to LGBT rights in Zimbabwe. In September 1995, Zimbabwe's parliament introduced legislation banning homosexual acts. Read Less In 1997, a court found Canaan Banana, Mugabe's predecessor and the first President of Zimbabwe, guilty of 11 counts of sodomy and indecent assault.

… Read More He has previously referred to lesbians and gays as being "worse than dogs and pigs".<br /><br /> In 2015, Mugabe was condemned by several United Nations agencies for his remarks on homosexuality.<br /><br /> Mugabe was criticised for agreeing to Zimbabwe's participation in the Second Congo War in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, this at time when the Zimbabwean economy was struggling. Zimbabwe was responding to a call by the Southern African Development Community to help the struggling regime in Kinshasa. The Democratic Republic of the Congo had been invaded by Rwanda and Uganda, both of which claimed that their civilians, and regional stability, were under constant threat of attack by Rwandan Hutu militiamen based in the Congo.<br /><br /> However, the Congolese government, as well as international commentators, charged that the motive for the invasion was to grab the rich mineral resources of eastern Congo. The war raised accusations of corruption, with officials alleged to be plundering the Congo's mineral reserves.

Mugabe's defence minister Moven Mahachi said, "Instead of our army in the DRC burdening the treasury for more resources, which are not available, it embarks on viable projects for the sake of generating the necessary revenue". Read Less According to Clare Short's advisor Soni Rajan, in the book Dinner With Mugabe by Heidi Holland, the New Labour government wanted to get rid of Robert Mugabe as early as 1997, even before the Fast Track land reform program: âIt was absolutely clear from the attitude of her Shortâs staff towards my recommendations that Labour's strategy was to accelerate Mugabe's unpopularity by failing to provide him with funding for land redistribution. … Read More They thought if they didn't give him the money for land reform, his people in the rural areas would start to turn against him. That was their position; they wanted him out and they were going to do whatever they could to hasten his demise.â <br /><br /> From 12 to 13 February 2000, a referendum on constitutional amendments was held.

The proposed amendments would have limited future presidents to two terms, but as it was not retroactive, Mugabe could have stood for another two terms. It also would have made his government and military officials immune from prosecution for any illegal acts committed while in office. In addition, it allowed the government to confiscate white-owned land for redistribution to black farmers without compensation. The motion failed with 55% of participants against the referendum.<br /><br /> The referendum had a 20% turnout fuelled by an effective SMS campaign. Mugabe declared that he would "abide by the will of the people". The vote was a surprise to ZANU-PF, and an embarrassment before parliamentary elections due in mid-April. Almost immediately, self-styled "war veterans", led by Chenjerai 'Hitler' Hunzvi, began invading white-owned farms. Those who did not leave voluntarily were often tortured and sometimes killed. One was forced to drink diesel fuel as a form of torture. On 6 April 2000, Parliament pushed through an amendment, taken word for word from the draft constitution that was rejected by voters, allowing the seizure of white-owned farmlands without due reimbursement or payment.

Read Less 2000 76 Years Old … According to a report by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe's Fifth Brigade killed between 10,000 and 20,000 people. Read Less The report also notes that about 2000 of these people were killed within the first week of deployment. 2002 78 Years Old Mugabe faced Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in presidential elections in March 2002. … Read More Mugabe defeated Tsvangirai by 56.2% to 41.9% amid violence and the prevention of large numbers of citizens in urban areas from voting. The conduct of the elections was widely viewed internationally as having been manipulated. Many groups, such as the United Kingdom, the European Union, the United States, and Tsvangirai's party, assert that the result was rigged.<br /><br /> Mugabe's ZANU-PF party won the 2005 parliamentary elections with an increased majority.

The elections were said by (again) South African observers to "reflect the free will of the people of Zimbabwe", despite accusations of widespread fraud from the MDC. Read Less Show Less The United Kingdom once condemned Mugabe's authoritarian policies and alleged racist attitudes as being comparable to those of German Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. A response came during the state funeral for a Zimbabwean Cabinet minister in March 2003. In recent years, Western governments have condemned Mugabe's government. On 9 March 2003, US President George W. Bush approved measures for economic sanctions to be levelled against Mugabe and other high-ranking Zimbabwe politicians, freezing their assets and barring Americans from engaging in any transactions or dealings with them. … Read More Justifying the move, Bush's spokesman stated that the President and Congress believe that "the situation in Zimbabwe endangers the southern African region and threatens to undermine efforts to foster good governance and respect for the rule of law throughout the continent." The bill was known as the Zimbabwe Democracy Act.<br /><br /> In reaction to human rights violations in Zimbabwe, students at universities from which Mugabe has honorary doctorates have sought to get the degrees revoked.

So far, the University of Edinburgh and University of Massachusetts Amherst have stripped Mugabe of his honorary degree after two years of campaigning from Edinburgh University Students' Association. In addition, the student body at Michigan State University (ASMSU) unanimously passed a resolution calling for this. The issue is now being considered by the university. Read Less … On 15 September 2008, the leaders of the 14-member SADC witnessed the signing of the power-sharing agreement, brokered by South African leader Thabo Mbeki. With symbolic handshake and warm smiles at the Rainbow Towers hotel in Harare, Mugabe, Mutambara and Tsvangirai signed the deal to end the violent political crisis. As provided, Robert Mugabe will be recognised as president, Morgan Tsvangirai will become prime minister, the MDC will control the police, Mugabe's Zanu (PF) will command the Army, and Arthur Mutambara becomes deputy prime minister. <br /><br />Violence, however, did not entirely subside with the power-sharing agreement.

As the New York Times reported, Mugabe's top lieutenants started "trying to force the political opposition into granting them amnesty for their past crimes by abducting, detaining and torturing opposition officials and activists." Dozens of members of the opposition and human rights activists have been abducted and tortured in the months since October 2008, including Roy Bennett, the opposition's third-highest-ranking official and Tsvangirai's nominee for deputy agriculture minister (arrested just two days after Tsvangirai was sworn in as prime minister on 11 February 2009) and Chris Dhlamini, the opposition's director of security. <br /><br />In 1994, Mugabe was appointed an honorary Knight Grand Cross in the Order of the Bath by Queen Elizabeth II. This entitled him to use the postnominal letters GCB, but not to use the title "Sir." Read Less In the United Kingdom, the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee called for the removal of this honour in 2003, and on 25 June 2008, the Queen cancelled and annulled the honorary knighthood after advice from the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom.

"This action has been taken as a mark of revulsion at the abuse of human rights and abject disregard for the democratic process in Zimbabwe over which President Mugabe has presided." Show Less In 2005, Mugabe ordered a raid conducted on what the government termed "illegal shelters" in Harare, resulting in 10,000 urban poor being left homeless from "Operation Murambatsvina (English: Operation Drive Out the Rubbish)." … Read More The authorities themselves had moved the poor inhabitants to the area in 1992, telling them not to build permanent homes and that their new homes were temporary, leading the inhabitants to build their own temporary shelters out of cardboard and wood. Since the inhabitants of the shantytowns overwhelmingly supported the Movement for Democratic Change opposition party in the previous election, many alleged that the mass bulldozing was politically motivated. The UK's Daily Telegraph noted that Mugabe's "latest palace," in the style of a pagoda, was located a mile from the destroyed shelters. The UN released a report stating that the actions of Mugabe resulted in the loss of home or livelihood for more than 700,000 Zimbabweans and negatively affected 2.4 million more.

Read Less Mugabe's office forbade the screening of the 2005 movie The Interpreter â which had as an antagonist a South African dictator widely thought to be modelled after Mugabe â claiming that it was propaganda by the CIA and fearing that it could incite hostility towards him. … Read More In 2007, Parade magazine ranked Mugabe the 7th worst dictator in the world. The same magazine ranked him worst dictator of the year 2009 two years later. Read Less On 8 April 2005, Mugabe attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II, a move which could be seen as defiance of a European Union travel ban that does not, however, apply to Vatican City. … Read More He was granted a transit visa by the Italian authorities, as they are obliged to under the Concordat.

However, the Catholic hierarchy in Zimbabwe have been very vocal against his rule and the senior Catholic cleric, Archbishop Pius Ncube is a major critic, even calling for Western governments to help in his overthrow.<br /><br /> Robert Mugabe and senior members of the Harare government are not allowed to travel to the United States because it is the position of the US government that he has worked to undermine democracy in Zimbabwe and has restricted freedom of the press. Despite strained political relations, the United States remains a leading provider of humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe, providing roughly US$900 million in humanitarian assistance from 2002â2008, mostly food aid.<br /><br /> Because United Nations events are exempt from the travel bans, Mugabe attended the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) summit in Rome. African leaders threatened to boycott the event if Mugabe were blacklisted; when he was not, the United Kingdom refused to send a representative. British and Australian officials denounced the presence of Mugabe. Read Less In June 2005, a report that Mugabe had entered a hospital for tests on his heart fuelled rumours that he had died of a heart attack. These reports were later dismissed by a Mugabe spokesman.

Joyce Mujuru, was elevated to vice-president of ZANU-PF during the December 2004 party congress and considerably younger than Joseph Msika, the other vice-president, has been touted as a likely successor to Mugabe. Show Less As of September 2006, Mugabe's family owns three farms: "Highfield Estate" in Norton, 45 km west of Harare, "Iron Mask Estate" in Mazowe, about 40 km from Harare, and "Foyle Farm" in Mazowe, formerly owned by Ian Webster and adjacent to Iron Mask Farm and renamed "Gushungo Farm" after Mugabe's own clan name. … Read More These farms were seized forcibly from their previous owners.<br /><br /> Mugabe blames the food shortages on drought and the cumulative effect of sanctions imposed against the country.<br /><br /> In November 2010 the Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University in England released a comprehensive study on the effects of Zimbabwean land reform. The study suggested that the consequences were mixed but that previous claims that the reform was a failure, that its primary recipients were political "cronies" or that it caused rural collapse were unfounded.

One of the study's authors, Professor Ian Scoones, stated: "What comes through from our research is the complexity, the differences in experience, almost farm by farm; there is no single, simple story of the Zimbabwe land reform as sometimes assumed by press reports, political commentators, or indeed much academic study". In 2015 he announced a proposal to return some land to white farmers. Read Less In late 2006, a plan was presented to postpone the next presidential election until 2010, at the same time as the next parliamentary election, thereby extending Mugabe's term by two years. … Read More It was said that holding the two elections together would be a cost-saving measure, but the plan was not approved: there were reportedly objections from some in ZANU-PF to the idea.<br /><br /> In March 2007, Mugabe said that he thought that the feeling was in favour of holding the two elections together in 2008 instead of 2010. He also said that he would be willing to run for re-election again if the party wanted him to do so.

Other leaders in southern Africa were rumoured to be less warm on the idea of extending his term to 2010. Read Less Show Less On 6 February 2007, Mugabe orchestrated a cabinet reshuffle, ousting ministers including five-year veteran finance minister Herbert Murerwa. … Read More On 11 March 2007, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was arrested and beaten following a prayer meeting in the Harare suburb of Highfields. Another member of the Movement for Democratic Change was killed while other protesters were injured. Read Less Mugabe claimed that "Tsvangirai deserved his beating-up by police because he was not allowed to attend a banned rally" on 30 March 2007. On 30 March 2007, it was announced that the ZANU-PF central committee had chosen Mugabe as the party's candidate for another term in 2008, that presidential terms would be shortened to five years, and that the parliamentary election would also be held in 2008.

At independence celebrations in Ghana in March 2007, South African President Thabo Mbeki was rumoured to have met with Mugabe in private and told him that "he was determined that South Africa's hosting of the Football World Cup in 2010 should not be disrupted by controversial presidential elections in Zimbabwe". … After many years of lobbying for Black Economic Empowerment similar to the Affirmative action initiative undertaken in South Africa by President Nelson Mandela under the advise of Nthato Motlana, Cyril Ramaphosa & others. Prominent Indigenous Businessmen such as Ben Mucheche, Paul Tangi Mhova Mkondo, John Mapondera, James Makamba, Enoch Kamushinda, Saviour Kasukuwere & Peter Pamire with strong backing from Lobby Groups as IBDC (founded by Strive Masiyiwa), IBWO (founded by Jane Mutasa) & AAG (founded by Phillip Chiyangwa).

Read Less The Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Bill was passed through parliament in September 2007 by President Mugabe's party, Zimbabwe African National Union â Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), Emmerson Mnangagwa was in charge of representing the Bill. … Read More In spite of resistance by the opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). President Robert Mugabe said his drive to give black Zimbabweans greater control of the southern African economy will continue "unabated" following his "resounding" endorsement in the 31 July elections. "The indigenisation and empowerment drive will continue unabated in order to ensure that indigenous Zimbabweans enjoy a larger share of the country's resources." Mugabe said that giving black Zimbabweans control of the business sector is the next step and said the election result had given him a "resounding mandate" to do so. "We will do everything in our power to ensure our objective of total indigenisation, empowerment, development and employment is realised," he told a public rally to mark the annual Defence Forces Day. He said the policy was the "final phase of the liberation struggle" and "final phase of total independence".

Read Less Show Less In 2013, the Election Commission said Mugabe won his seventh term as President, defeating Tsvangirai with 61 percent of the vote in a disputed election in which there were numerous accounts of electoral fraud. Mugabe was re-elected in 2013 with 61 percent of the vote. U.N Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, having followed the elections in Zimbabwe closely, commended the Zimbabwean people for a broadly peaceful election day and for exercising their democratic rights. … Read More He stressed, at the same time, that the concerns which have been raised about certain aspects of the electoral process should be pursued through established channels. These concerns should then be considered transparently and fairly. The most important thing was that the will of the people of Zimbabwe be respected. Independent poll monitors reported widespread irregularities, and the state-appointed election commission reported that many voters were either turned away or received assistance from election officials.

All in all SADC & the African Continent's main body African Union endorsed the Zimbabwean general elections which had an AU Observer team on the ground led by President General Olusegun Obasanjo.<br /><br /> Since 1998 Mugabe's policies have increasingly elicited domestic and international denunciation. They have been denounced as racist against Zimbabwe's white minority. Mugabe has described his critics as "born again colonialists", and both he and his supporters claim that Zimbabwe's problems are the legacy of imperialism, aggravated by Western economic meddling. According to The Herald, a Zimbabwean newspaper owned by the government, the UK is pursuing a policy of regime change. Read Less These rumours were enhanced later the same month when WikiLeaks reported that Mugabe's close friend, Gideon Gono, had revealed that Mugabe had prostate cancer that would likely kill him by 2013. BBC ON THIS DAY | 4 | 1980: Mugabe to lead independent Zimbabwe 1980: Mugabe to lead independent Zimbabwe Nationalist leader Robert Mugabe has won a sweeping election victory to become Zimbabwe's first black prime minister.

Mr Mugabe's radical Zimbabwe African National Union (Patriotic Front) party or Zanu (PF) won 57 of the 80 black seats being contested in the country's first election since the end of white minority rule. It is enough to give Mr Mugabe a comfortable majority, even when the 20 seats reserved for whites are taken into account. He told a news conference the new government would include his former chief guerrilla rival, Joshua Nkomo, and his Patriotic Front party, which won 20 seats. He also made clear he would consider bringing Europeans into the administration "so as to bring about a government that will be reassuring to all people of Zimbabwe". There can never be any return to the state of armed conflict which existed before our commitment to peace Robert Mugabe Bishop Abel Muzorewa's United African National Council, UANC, party won only three votes - a humiliating defeat for the party which only 10 months ago was riding high in the polls. News of Mr Mugabe's election victory was announced over radio and television sending thousands of enthusiastic black Zimbabweans onto the streets shouting for joy.

Mr Mugabe's symbol, the cockerel or jongwe, inspired his supporters to constant crowing and arm-flapping. Many ran out onto the streets with live birds. The celebrations were largely good-natured and there were no signs of racial tensions. But overhead and at key crossroads in the capital, Salisbury, and the black townships, the security forces maintained a constant vigil. Zimbabwe's business and farming communities have reacted to Mr Mugabe's election victory with caution. The Salisbury stock exchange fell sharply when the results were announced but recovered later in the afternoon. Former prime minister Ian Smith told the BBC: "I think Rhodesians are pretty pragmatic and full of experience. "I don't visualise them resorting to panic action, stampeding. I think they will act in a very mature, responsible way.

After all it's our country, where will we run to?" In a broadcast on television tonight, Mr Mugabe said: "I wish to assure you that there can never be any return to the state of armed conflict which existed before our commitment to peace and the democratic process of election under the Lancaster House agreement." Mugabe cannot decide on election date on his own, says Zimbabwe PM | World news | The Guardian Zimbabwe Mugabe cannot decide on election date on his own, says Zimbabwe PM Morgan Tsvangirai says any elections held without consent of other leaders in power-sharing government would not be 'legitimate' Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's prime minister, also demands an end to bias by the nation’s dominant state media and an end to political intimidation. Photograph: Philimon Bulawayo/Reuters Associated Press in Harare Close This article is 3 years old Zimbabwe's prime minister has said he won't agree to hold elections in July after President Robert Mugabe said he would go ahead with the long-awaited polls. The prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai , said on Wednesday that Mugabe cannot decide on an election date without consent from other leaders in the power-sharing government.

Tsvangirai said any elections held at Mugabe's behest would not be deemed "legitimate". "It seems they are determined to commit suicide, it is what they want," he said at a press briefing of civic leaders. Mugabe was forced by regional leaders to form a coalition government with former opposition leader Tsvangirai after violent and disputed elections in 2008. The nation's highest court in May ordered Mugabe to hold polls by the end of July, arguing that the elections should be linked to the dissolution of the parliament at the end of its current five-year term on 29 June. Mugabe has said he will abide by the ruling and hold the vote on 31 July despite objections from his partners in the coalition. Tsvangirai has said he wants polls to end the four-year-old coalition in September at the earliest. A lawsuit was brought to the court on 24 May to force Mugabe to call early polls. The private court application claimed the country could not be run without the existence of the parliament, rendering the government illegal.

A new constitution overwhelmingly accepted in a 16 March referendum requires amendments to voters' lists as well as a 30-day registration of new voters that will end on 9 July. Tsvangirai claimed the lawsuit was instigated by Mugabe's Zanu-PF party loyalists eager for early polls so that they can take advantage of loopholes in the electoral laws to rig the vote. "That ruling is a political directive which has been given a legal effect, it doesn't create an environment for a legitimate election," Tsvangirai said. Mugabe, 89, who has ruled the country since independence from colonial rule in 1980, has been accused of appointing sympathetic judges from the justice ministry and the legal profession. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change party is also demanding media reforms to end bias by the nation's dominant state media controlled by Mugabe loyalists and an end to political intimidation by the partisan police and military. "We want to remove all obstacles to a free and fair election. If Zanu-PF wants to roughshod us, I will just stand up and say I will not agree with you," Tsvangirai said.

Morgan Tsvangirai reluctantly launches election campaign after failing to delay poll - with Mugabe looking set for victory, says Simon Allison Published: 10 Jul 2013 Constitutional court is asked to review earlier ruling that vote must be held by end of July after pressure from African leaders Published: 19 Jun 2013 Reappraisal of Zimbabwean president coincides with plausible plotline of win in 'credible' elections leading to lifting of sanctions Published: 10 May 2013 Zimbabwe set for fresh political chaos as Mugabe decrees date for elections and quashes constitution Published: 13 Jun 2013

Question: In March of what year was Robert Mugabe elected Prime Minister of Zimbabwe?
Answer: 1980