Facts about Mugabe, You need to know

Robert Gabriel Mugabe who was born on 21 February 1924 he was a son to Gabriel Matibiri, a poor carpenter in Kutama Southern Rhodesia.

He schooled at Kutama College and attended the University of Fort Hare, in his early years.

Following his schooling, he worked as a school teacher in Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia, and Ghana.

He got married to his first wife Sally Hayfron who gave birth to his only son Michael Nhamodzenyika Mugabe, who died 26 December 1966 at the age of 3 after being diagnosed of cerebral malaria in Ghana.

In 1964 Mugabe was imprisoned by Rhodesian government after making anti-government comments, he however regained his freedom in 1974.

Following his release, Mugabe involved in an extra-marital affair with his secretary, Grace Marufu; who in 1988 bore Mugabe a daughter, Bona, and in 1990 a son, Robert.

In 1980 as a revolutionary politician, he served as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987 and later won post-independence elections that made him rule the country for 37 years after securing independence from the UK in 1987 to 2017.

He chaired the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) group from 1975 to 1980

Ideologically an African nationalist, during the 1970s and 1980s he was identified as a Marxist–Leninist. He was identified as a socialist after the 1990s. His policies have been described as Mugabeism.

In 2009 amid economic collapse, he sworn in Tsvangirai as prime minister, who served in uneasy government of national unity for four years.

In 2017 in a bid to pave way for his wife Grace to succeed him, he sacked a long-time ally Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa, this move led to the intervention of Army in 2017 forcing him to step down in 2017.

Mr Mugabe died on 6th of September 2019 after battling an undisclosed ailment in Singapore, the illness came after his embarrassing fall from power in 2017.