Essay: Robert Mugabe

Honors English 2
November 8, 2017
On February 21, 1924, Robert Gabriel Mugabe was born in Kutuma, Zimbabwe to a poor family of Boba and Gabriel. He had 5 other siblings, being the third born. As a child, his father left the family shortly after his elder brother died. Robert studied in Jesuit, Roman Catholic Church schools. He later attended Katuma’s St. Francis Xavier College. He also attended Fort Hare University in South Africa in search for further education. In 1951, Robert graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and English. In between 1951 and 1958, Mugabe had earned six more degrees after studying in places such as Salisbury, Gwelo, and Tanzania. He also began to lecture at the Chalimbana Teacher Training College in Northern Rhodesia. In 1961, Robert married his wife, Sally Hayfron, whom he met in teaching at St. Mary’s Teacher Training College .
In 1960, Mugabe joined the National Democratic Party as the Public Secretary. His inspiration for this was after returning home to see the denial of black rights as the increase in the white population increased. He had addressed a crowd to protest about the recent arrest of the leaders of the opposition movement. Through Marxism, he exclaimed the successful achieved independence of Ghana. The party was later disbanded a year later in 1961, but Robert soon after formed the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU), led by Joshua Nkomo. Two years later he left the ZAPU and formed the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU). This union was built upon the basis of Africanist philosophies of the Pan Africanist Congress in South Africa. Shortly following this, the Rhodesian police arrested Mugabe. In August of 1964, both ZAPU and ZANU were banned while Mugabe was still imprisoned.
Mugabe had not been released from prison until 1974, eleven years after he was arrested. During this period, Mugabe was able to use secret communications from his supporters to keep up with current events going on. The police had hoped to keep him isolated while in prison, but it ended up being the opposite. He was also elected by Edgar Tekere to take over ZANU. Upon his release, Mugabe was expected to attend a conference in Lusaka, Zambia. Instead, he fled to the across the border to Southern Rhodesia. He constructed a group of Rhodesian guerilla trainees.
The battles throughout the 1970’s caused the economy of Zimbabwe to be in the worst shape it had ever been before. Finally, the British Colonies came to an agreement with Mugabe in 1979. The colonies would oversee the changeover to black majority rule while the UN would also raise previously established sanctions.
In 1980, he ran to lead the first government as the Prime Minister. Mugabe ran along under the ZANU party against Nkomo. Robert successfully one this race against his old allie. Shortly following this, the ZANU and ZAPU parties were engaged in an altercation which continued four years later during Mugabe’s re-election. The war came to a conclusion in November of 1987 after Mugabe supporters brutally murdered a group of fifteen Matabeleland missionaries. Subsequently after this, Mugabe and Nkomo decided to merge their unions to settle their differences and for the better of Zimbabwe. Erelong, Robert took up the role of President of Zimbabwe after the position of Prime Minister was eradicated.He choose Nkomo to be one of his senior ministers. In 1989, ( with the assistance from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund) he executed a five year plan that which allowed farmers to control the prices of their products by lowering the price restrictions. Inturn, this strongly benefited the economy.
Robert Mugabe used his love of Zimbabwe in order to become elected as prime minister and later president. Mugabe’s fear tactics and political strategies left Zimbabwe’s economy and political structures in shambles. Comrade Zhou is a leading war veteran of Mugabe’s and said “We had to beat one man because people heard him say it was the president’s fault there is no food.” This demonstrates that Mugabe was a very tyrannical despot. After Mugabe lost apresidential election in 2008 he demanded a recount of votes and killed members of the opposition party. In 2000 Robert Mugabe created a referendum that would make the power of the president greater and also allow the government to seize white owned land.
Mugabe’s rise to power saw him bring better living conditions and welfare for the blacks in his country who until they gained independence from Britain were treated very unfairly. The people of Zimbabwe respected this and saw Mugabe as one of them prompting them to elect him to leadership positions within the country. Although Mugabe was seen as a hero among blacks, whites began to emigrate and Zimbabwe’s economy started to implode. As Mugabe rose through the ranks of the government he wanted to see a one party socialist state. The ZANU-PF, Mugabe’s political party, became the single dominant party in Zimbabwe. Due to the one party system Mugabe was able to be elected very easily using voter intimidation.