Robert Mugabe is the world's oldest president. He is now 91 years old. For 35 years he has been in charge of Zimbabwe. The country under his control over the past decades has significantly reduced the rate of economic growth and development. Unsuccessful reforms and infringement of the rights of dissident citizens have led to the fact that the once developing region has become one of the most backward and unstable.
Biography
Robert Mugabe (pictured above) was born on February 21, 1924 to a carpenter's family in Kutama. At that time, Zimbabwe was a British colony and was called Southern Rhodesia. Mugabe belongs to the country's ethnic majority, the Shona people.
Robert received his primary education at a Jesuit school. By religion, he is a Catholic. He studied at the college (1942-1954), a teacher by training. Became a bachelor in 1951. Then he studied remotely at the University of London, received several more degrees. He taught in Southern Rhodesia, then from 1956 to 1960. - in Ghana.
After returning home at the age of 36, he joined the National Democratic Party, banned by the white colonizers' regime. He was a member of the Zimbabwe African People's Union. Actively participated in the anti-colonization movementcountries. He was one of the initiators of the creation of a new party - the African National Union of Zimbabwe, and in 1963 became its Secretary General. For his active position he was condemned by the regime and was imprisoned for 10 years (1964-1974).
During the liberation movement was the leader of the party. After the guerrillas laid down their arms in the 1980 elections, Mugabe won a landslide victory and became the prime minister of the independent state of Zimbabwe. Since 1987, after a change in the constitutional order, he took over as president. In subsequent elections, he deserved the majority of votes and is still the head of state.
Mugabe Robert: family
The future president of Zimbabwe was the third child in a family of six. His two older brothers are dead. Robert was still a child then. He was survived by two sisters and a younger brother.
Mugabe met his first wife Sally Hifron in 1958 while teaching in Ghana. They married in 1961, and in 1963 their son Nhamozeniyka was born. Three years later, he contracted malaria and died. Robert was imprisoned at the time and was not even allowed to attend the funeral.
Sally left for the UK after her son's death, where she worked as a secretary at the Africa Centre. She took an active position and campaigned for the release of her husband and other political prisoners from prisons in Southern Rhodesia. Sally passed away from kidney disease in 1992.
Mugabe's second wife, Grace Marufu, was his secretary. They got married in 1996. Gracemore than 40 years younger than Robert. Before marriage, they already had two children. They had another child in 1997.
Grace Mugabe is known for her extravagance and pursuit of luxury. Before the imposition of sanctions, she often visited expensive stores. This caused criticism from the European community.
Political activities
Before Mugabe came to power, Robert was active in promoting democracy in his country. However, the methods he used sometimes went against those principles. Political opponents who competed with him were eliminated by various methods, up to and including physical destruction.
When a civil uprising broke out in 1981, it was brutally suppressed by the armed forces. According to some reports, up to 20,000 people objectionable to the regime died in ethnic cleansing after that. Mugabe supported the Ethiopian dictator in 1991 and gave political asylum to him and his family. In 1998, he got involved in the civil war in the Congo. After the failure of the constitutional reform in Zimbabwe, land "chaos" began. Lands and farms began to be taken away from the colonialists and transferred to loyal supporters of the presidential regime.
This could not go unnoticed. Subsequent elections Mugabe held with clear violations of the rights of voters. To stay in power, ballot-rigging and intimidation were used. In 2002, a number of European countries and the United States imposed sanctions against the Mugabe regime, and the IMF stopped supporting the country's economy.
Zimbabwe andMugabe
Despite everything, the president has strong support among the population. Basically, these are veterans of the liberation movement for independence and members of their families who received lands and privileges from the regime. Another part approves of Mugabe's policy towards the US and Europe. Many believe that all the troubles of Zimbabwe come from the desire to get rid of the "white" colonialists.
The presidential election programs are not particularly innovative. The main message is to prevent the West from returning colonial rule to Zimbabwe, questioning the country's independence and driving the black population into reservations. There is only one conclusion for them: who then, if not Robert Mugabe?
The country under his leadership is on the list of backward, the population is starving. More than 95% of residents are below the poverty line. Life expectancy in the country has decreased by an average of 15 years. This is caused by waves of violence, outbreaks of epidemics, famine.
Unsupported economy in decline. The severe crisis and thoughtless reforms led to the complete depreciation of the national currency. The population receives humanitarian aid from the UN. The oppositionists, who were waiting for changes for the better, stopped believing in elections under the current regime and fell into complete apathy. The only way out for them can be emigration.
Reforms
The basis of the economy of Southern Rhodesia before the reign of Mugabe was the mining industry and agricultural products produced on the farms of the colonialists. The redistribution of land gave rise to a crisis. Far from this people came to the management of farms. sowingareas have shrunk, production has plummeted, and the industry has ceased to be profitable.
Reckless cash payments to veterans of the liberation movement led to the beginning of inflation. At the height of the global crisis, Zimbabwe's economy collapsed. Hyperinflation amounted to hundreds of millions of percent. The US dollar was worth 25,000,000 Zimbabwean dollars. Unemployment was 80%.
Housing reform has led to the loss of a roof over the head of hundreds of thousands of families. Announced as a slum control program, it was in fact a war with the citizens of the regions who supported the opposition candidate in the elections. Only the UN demand and threats to stop humanitarian aid to Zimbabwe forced Mugabe to stop the "housing reform".
Under such conditions, the sanctions of the European Union and the termination of IMF funding do not allow the dictatorial regime to develop. The entire population suffers from this.
Robert Mugabe Curiosities
The President of Zimbabwe is known for his extraordinary actions and harsh insulting remarks against the leaders of countries unfriendly to him. I remember his unexpected and uninvited visit to a UN event in 2008 and his accusatory speech.
After the decision to legalize same-sex marriage in the United States, Obama received a marriage proposal from the ardent homophobe Mugabe. From his lips to the Prime Minister of Great Britain and the Chancellor of Germany, insulting statements were repeatedly heard. Mugabe blames them for all the troubles in Zimbabwe.
Advanced age also makes itself felt. Robert Mugabe, 91At the opening of Parliament for about half an hour he made the same speech as at the previous meeting. The president's press service was blamed for everything. When leaving the plane, he unexpectedly stumbled and almost fell in front of the journalists. The security service demanded that all photos of the incident be removed.
Repeatedly in the press appeared information about the possible illness of Robert Mugabe. He was noticed more than once in clinics and cancer treatment centers. Despite everything, the oldest president continues to rule the country, and the ruling party of Zimbabwe has already nominated him for the next elections, which should be held in 2018, as their candidate.
