Statecraft & Independence
Peerless
Robert Mugabe
1924 – 2019
Led Zimbabwe to independence, and ruled it for thirty-seven years
Peerless is level 1 of 4 in the Zimbabwe Hall of Fame: changed the field itself. Tell the country's story without them and the story breaks. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
He led the liberation war that ended white minority rule and became independent Zimbabwe's first leader in 1980, holding power for thirty-seven years. No account of the country works without him — including the worst of it.
Robert Gabriel Mugabe was born in 1924 and became leader of ZANU, one of the two movements that fought the war against Rhodesian white minority rule. He took office in 1980 as independent Zimbabwe's first prime minister, later president, and held power until he was removed by the army in November 2017. He died in 2019.
The early years brought a substantial expansion of schooling and health care, and Zimbabwe's literacy rate became among the highest on the continent. He was, for a generation of Africans, the face of the last successful liberation war in southern Africa.
He is also responsible for the Gukurahundi, the land seizures and the economic collapse, and for making the state an instrument against the people it governed.
The early years brought a substantial expansion of schooling and health care, and Zimbabwe's literacy rate became among the highest on the continent. He was, for a generation of Africans, the face of the last successful liberation war in southern Africa.
He is also responsible for the Gukurahundi, the land seizures and the economic collapse, and for making the state an instrument against the people it governed.
- Wikipedia — Gukurahundi
- EBSCO Research Starters — Gukurahundi genocide
- The Conversation — British policy towards Zimbabwe during the Matabeleland massacre
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