Mugabe << moo GAH bay >> , Robert Gabriel (1924-2019), was head of the government of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 2017. Mugabe led the country’s largest and most powerful political party, the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF). During the 1970’s, Mugabe helped lead the country’s black nationalists in a military and political struggle to end white-minority rule.
Mugabe became prime minister after ZANU-PF won parliamentary elections in February 1980. Zimbabwe became an independent country in April 1980. During the 1980’s, Mugabe worked to establish a one-party socialist state. In 1987, the office of prime minister was replaced with the office of executive president, and Mugabe was elected to the new office. In 1989, ZANU-PF merged with its rival, the Zimbabwe African People’s Union, and the new party adopted the name ZANU-PF. In 1990, ZANU-PF rejected Mugabe’s proposal for creating a one-party state. Mugabe was reelected executive president in 1990, 1996, 2002, 2008, and 2013.
Many people criticized Mugabe for his attempts to achieve absolute power and for his unwillingness to tolerate opposition. On numerous occasions, his government intimidated and attacked political opponents and placed severe restrictions on civic groups and the media. His policies also played a role in triggering an economic crisis in Zimbabwe in the early 2000’s. In 2002, Mugabe’s government began seizing white-owned farmland for redistribution to blacks. This land reform program disrupted farm production and helped bring about widespread food shortages. In 2005, Mugabe launched an urban “cleanup” campaign in which large numbers of slum dwellings were destroyed, leaving at least 700,000 people homeless. He also signed into law several constitutional amendments that further strengthened the government’s power. The amendments included clauses prohibiting appeals about government land seizures, putting all land on a 99-year lease from the government, and banning travel for people the government viewed as threats to national security.
In mid-November 2017, the military took control of Harare and put Mugabe under house arrest. About a week later, Parliament began impeachment proceedings against Mugabe, and he resigned from office.
Mugabe was born on Feb. 21, 1924, in Kutama, near what is now Harare, Zimbabwe. In 1963, he helped found ZANU-PF. The white-minority government of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) jailed him from 1964 to 1974. Mugabe died on Sept. 6, 2019.
