Robert Mugabe, a praised African hero for his successful struggle to liberate Zimbabwe from tyranny has died. He had been receiving treatment in a hospital in Singapore since April 2019. His death, at age 95, marks the end of an era in Zimbabwe and in Africa.
The former Zimbabwean president was praised for many achievements but also criticised for serious shortcomings. Robert Mugabe was and will remain an African and Zimbabwean hero, for bringing freedom to Blacks in Zimbabwe and being a role model to Africans struggling for their rights and independence. Born to a poor Shona family in Kutama, Southern Rhodesia, he ended up leading a movement of freedom fighting that ultimately achieved the dismantlement of white minority rule and Rhodesia, and resulted in the creation of the current Zimbabwe nation in 1980. During his 37 year in power, he was able to create effective politicies to give access to education, health and job opportunities to the black majority.
Unfortunately, four decades of rule brought many failings that turned an independence hero to an archetypal African tyrant.
Robert Mugabe resigned as Zimbabwe’s president on Tuesday, November 21, 2017, a week after the Zimbabwean army and many of his former freedom fighters comrades moved against him. His resignation ends his reign of 37 years. At 93-year-271-day-old, he was the oldest current serving state leader by age. (see AfroAmerica Networ: here) and (AfroAmerica Network: Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe Peacefully Resigns As President)
With the peaceful resignation, Zimbabwean people and Robert Mugabe showed the world that change can happen in peace. On the one side, Robert Mugabe avoided the fate of the old foolish king in the Bible's Ecclesiastes 4-13: "Better a poor but wise youth than an old foolish king who no longer knows how to heed a warning." On the other side, Zimbabwean people who patiently and peacefully gave a chance to Robert Mugabe to come to his senses served as a model to all other Africans.
As mentioned in AfroAmerica Network articles, many African tyrants started like Robert Mugabe. However, unlike him, many continue to ignore the call for a change. That what also added positive points to Robert Mugabe's achievements, when he realized that his time had come.Among the African tyrants are the longest serving or aspirant presidents-for-life or rather tyrants-for-life, such as Uganda's Yoweri Museveni, Cameroon's Paul Biya, Rwanda's Paul Kagame, Equatorial Guinea's Obiang Nguema, Republic of the Congo's Sassou Nguesso, Togo's Faure Gnassimbé and others?
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