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    Africa Essay

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    Robert Mugabe initially gained popularity as a liberator of Zimbabwe from British colonial rule and implemented policies that improved healthcare, education, and women's rights. However, over his 37 years in power, he became increasingly authoritarian and oppressive. He seized land from white farmers, damaging the economy and causing food shortages. As criticism grew, Mugabe cracked down on free speech and rigged elections to remain in power until being removed after nationwide protests in 2017. Mugabe's rule transformed Zimbabwe from a promising new nation to one plagued by corruption, human rights abuses, and economic ruin.

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    Africa Essay

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    Robert Mugabe initially gained popularity as a liberator of Zimbabwe from British colonial rule and implemented policies that improved healthcare, education, and women's rights. However, over his 37 years in power, he became increasingly authoritarian and oppressive. He seized land from white farmers, damaging the economy and causing food shortages. As criticism grew, Mugabe cracked down on free speech and rigged elections to remain in power until being removed after nationwide protests in 2017. Mugabe's rule transformed Zimbabwe from a promising new nation to one plagued by corruption, human rights abuses, and economic ruin.

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    Robert Mugabe initially gained popularity as a liberator of Zimbabwe from British colonial rule and implemented policies that improved healthcare, education, and women's rights. However, over his 37 years in power, he became increasingly authoritarian and oppressive. He seized land from white farmers, damaging the economy and causing food shortages. As criticism grew, Mugabe cracked down on free speech and rigged elections to remain in power until being removed after nationwide protests in 2017. Mugabe's rule transformed Zimbabwe from a promising new nation to one plagued by corruption, human rights abuses, and economic ruin.

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    36 views5 pages

    Africa Essay

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    Robert Mugabe initially gained popularity as a liberator of Zimbabwe from British colonial rule and implemented policies that improved healthcare, education, and women's rights. However, over his 37 years in power, he became increasingly authoritarian and oppressive. He seized land from white farmers, damaging the economy and causing food shortages. As criticism grew, Mugabe cracked down on free speech and rigged elections to remain in power until being removed after nationwide protests in 2017. Mugabe's rule transformed Zimbabwe from a promising new nation to one plagued by corruption, human rights abuses, and economic ruin.

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    of 5

    Albeez 1

    Nurayda Albeez

    Ms. Peters

    World Studies B3

    7 June 2022

    How did Robert Mugabe Change from a Liberator to an Oppressor?

    One of the most well-known and controversial figures in world history is Robert Mugabe. He

    was a teacher, political prisoner, anti-colonialism activist, nationalist, and Zimbabwe’s first

    post-independence leader who served for 37 years. Mugabe sparked an interest in politics when

    he taught in Ghana a year after it gained its independence from Britain. Being in an African

    nation ruled by Africans inspired him to go back to his nation of Rhodesia and join an

    anti-colonialism party. However, Mugabe’s conflicts with other parties resulted in his

    imprisonment where he was chosen to lead the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU). This

    association helped Rhodesia gain its independence from Britain and after a fair election, Mugabe

    became the leader of the new nation of Zimbabwe (Pearce). He was considered to be the savior

    of Zimbabwe for two decades, but this image deteriorated in the 2000s as he began abusing his

    power. Mugabe changed from a liberator to an oppressor by causing economic decline, extensive

    corruption, and human rights violations.

    At the beginning of his administration, Mugabe promised to develop a free-market economy

    and assured Zimbabwe’s white minority that they would not be treated unfairly; both of which

    heavily raised his popularity (Pearce). He also made big advancements in health services,

    educational institutions, and women’s rights. The “government built hundreds of rural health

    centers and primary schools and improved the road access to rural areas” (Robert Mugabe). This

    allowed Zimbabwe to develop the highest literacy rate in Africa and have a strong healthcare

    system with highly qualified professionals (Pearce). In addition to this, Mugabe passed
    Albeez 2

    legislation which empowered women by giving them the right to “enter into any transaction

    without the consent of male kin”, erasing “sex-based discrimination at work” in terms of income,

    and changing “property distribution practices in the event of divorce” so that they didn’t favor

    men (Nhongo-Simbanegavi). All these actions caused world leaders to consider Mugabe a

    liberator. He was even awarded the Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End to

    Hunger, Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding, Olympic Order of Gold,

    Order of Jamaica, and honorary collegiate degrees from several universities including the

    University of Michigan (Robert Mugabe).

    Over time, Mugabe’s democratic rule became increasingly authoritarian. His obsession with

    power blinded him to the needs of his people. The first blow to his popularity came with the

    1998 international financial crisis during which Zimbabwe's unemployment rate skyrocketed

    along with inflation. Mugabe’s hateful comments towards the LGBTQ+ community and his

    attempt to change the country’s constitution was widely disapproved of and didn’t help with his

    reputation either. This led to another political party, The Movement for Democratic Power

    (MDC), almost winning the election of 2000 if it hadn’t been rigged through voter fraud and

    intimidation (Pearce). Following this election, Zimbabwe’s economy continued to go downhill.

    To improve this situation, “Mugabe's government instituted a plan to seize 9.5 million hectares

    (23 million acres) of land from white commercial farmers, giving them to small-scale farmers

    and other Zimbabweans” (Zimbabwe). This racist act resulted in the deaths of several white

    farmers and their black workers, severe losses in the agriculture sector, and starvation for

    millions of Zimbabweans. As more journalists began criticizing Mugabe, he took away their

    freedom of speech by requiring them to have special licenses to publish articles. This was the

    final straw that triggered the US government, who once honored Mugabe for bringing stability to
    Albeez 3

    Zimbabwe, to impose sanctions on the country, further damaging its weak economy (Pearce). Yet

    Mugabe’s corrupt government composed of “army generals, police chiefs, senior civil servants,

    and political cronies willing to do his bidding” continued to ensure that he ruled and won

    elections (Meredith). In 2008, Mugabe even said that “‘Only God, who appointed me, will

    remove me – not the MDC, not the British. Only God will remove me!’” (The wit and wisdom).

    To really put Mugabe’s devastating effects on Zimbabwe into perspective, the average life

    expectancy of the people he ruled halved within a decade (Robert Mugabe).

    Seeing such a well respected leader turn into a dictator whose ousting led to celebrations

    around the world begs the question as to why he transformed for the worse. One claim is that

    Mugabe had “never been shy about his goal to destroy the opposition” (Jervis 294). This can be

    seen with how Mugabe dismissed Joshua Nkomo from his government a few years after he

    started his presidency because he believed that Nkomo’s party was plotting a coup against him

    (Pearce). Nkomo led the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU), which was ZANU’s

    opposing party. Another claim is that Zimbabwe's “economic troubles can be laid at the door of

    Britain” and that Mugabe was simply “the scapegoat” (Shire 32). This perspective discusses how

    Britain created economic issues in Zimbabwe by taking advantage of their membership with the

    British Commonwealth (33). Furthermore, this perspective covers how circumstances in

    Zimbabwe were often exaggerated and falsified (34).

    Mugabe’s change from a liberator to an oppressor undoubtedly caused the flourishing nation

    of Zimbabwe to wither into an area of economic ruin filled with corruption and violence at every

    corner. Today, Zimbabwe’s impoverished streets reflect Mugabe’s misrule. The unfortunate truth

    is that there is little hope for Zimbabwe to improve its condition because authoritarian leaders

    like Mugabe always leave a negative mark on their nation that cannot be erased.
    Albeez 4

    Works Cited

    Jervis, David. "THE REASONS WHY ROBERT MUGABE BECAME A TYRANT." Journal of

    Third World Studies, vol. 26, no. 2, 2009, pp. 293–96. JSTOR,

    http://www.jstor.org/stable/45194583. Accessed 3 Jun. 2022.

    Matt, Pearce. "Robert Mugabe." Robert Mugabe, May 2020, p. 1–N.PAG. EBSCOhost,

    https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=khh&AN=15317122&site=hrc-l

    ive.

    Meredith, Martin. "Mugabe's Misrule." Foreign Affairs, vol. 97, no. 2, Mar. 2018, pp. 129–38.

    EBSCOhost,

    https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=khh&AN=127778208&site=hrc

    -live.

    Nhongo-Simbanegavi, Josephine. "For Better Or Worse? Women And ZANLA In Zimbabwe's

    Liberation Struggle." Accord, 2000,

    www.accord.org.za/ajcr-issues/for-better-or-worse-women-and-zanla-in-zimbabwes-liber

    ation-struggle/. Accessed 2 June 2022.

    "Robert Mugabe." African Biography, Gale, 1999. Gale in Context: World History,

    link.gale.com/apps/doc/K2421000048/WHIC?u=lom_inac&sid=bookmark-WHIC&xid=

    0bf3b76c. Accessed 1 June 2022.

    Shire, George. "The Case for Robert Mugabe: Sinner or Sinned Against?" Black Scholar, vol. 37,

    no. 1, Spring 2007, pp. 32–35. EBSCOhost,

    https://doi.org/10.1080/00064246.2007.11413379.
    Albeez 5

    "Zimbabwe." Gale Global Issues Online Collection, Gale, 2020. Gale in Context: Global Issues,

    link.gale.com/apps/doc/CP3208530194/GIC?u=lom_inac&sid=bookmark-GIC&xid=917

    0bf94. Accessed 1 June 2022.

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