By Muwanga Deo: The former president of Zimbabwe, Mr Robert Mugabe has passed on after battling ill health, his family confirmed. Mr Mugabe had been in hospital in Singapore since April.
Mugabe’s early years were praised for broadening access to health and education for the black majority. But his controversial land reform programme sparked an economic collapse and his latter years were marked by rights abuses and corruption.
His successor, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, expressed his “utmost sadness”, calling Mr Mugabe “Zimbabwe’s founding father” and “an icon of liberation”. the president also posted on his tweeter account, “It is with the utmost sadness that I announce the passing on of Zimbabwe’s founding father and former President, Cde Robert Mugabe”.
He was ousted in a military coup in November 2017, ending three decades in power.
He won Zimbabwe’s first election after independence, becoming prime minister in 1980. He abolished the office in 1987, becoming president instead.
