President of Zimbabwe Mugabe Robert: family, photo

Mugabe Robert is the oldest president in the world. He is now 91 years old. For 35 years he has been in charge of Zimbabwe. The country under its control over the past decades has significantly reduced the rate of economic growth and development. Unsuccessful reforms and infringements of the rights of dissenting citizens led to the fact that the once developing region had become one of the most backward and unstable.

Biography

Robert Mugabe (photo above) was born on February 21, 1924 in the family of a carpenter in Kutam. At that time Zimbabwe was a British colony and was called Southern Rhodesia. Mugabe belongs to the ethnic majority of the country - the Shona people.

He received his primary education in a Jesuit school. He is a Catholic by faith. He studied in college (1942-1954 gg.), Education teacher. He became a bachelor in 1951. Then he studied remotely at the University of London, received several more degrees. He taught in Southern Rhodesia, then from 1956 to 1960. - in Ghana.

Upon returning home at age 36, he joined the National Democratic Party, banned by the white colonial regime. He was a member of the Union of African People of Zimbabwe. Actively participated in the movement against the colonization of the country. He was one of the initiators of the creation of a new party - the African National Union of Zimbabwe, and in 1963 became its general secretary. For his active position was condemned by the regime and 10 years (1964-1974) was imprisoned.

During the liberation movement was the leader of the party. After the formation of partisans in the 1980 election, Mugabe won a confident victory and became prime minister of the independent state of Zimbabwe. Since 1987, after changing the constitutional system, he took over the post of president. In subsequent elections, he deserved the majority of votes and is still the head of state.

Mugabe Robert: The Family

The future president of Zimbabwe was the third child in a family of six children. His two elder brothers died. Robert was a child then. He had two sisters and a younger brother.

With his first wife, Sally Haifron Mugabe met in 1958 while teaching in Ghana. They were married in 1961, and in 1963 they had a son named Nhamodzenik. Three years later he fell ill with malaria and died. Robert was at that time in custody, and he was not even given a funeral.

Sally after the death of her son left for the UK, where she worked as a secretary in the African Center. She took an active position and advocated the release of her husband and other political prisoners from the prisons of Southern Rhodesia. Sally died of kidney disease in 1992.

The second wife of Mugabe - Grace Marufu - was his secretary. They were married in 1996. Grace is younger than Robert for more than 40 years. Before the wedding they had already two children. In 1997, they had another child.

Grace Mugabe is known for her extravagance and desire for luxury. Prior to the introduction of sanctions, she often visited expensive stores. This caused criticism from the European community.

Political activity

Before Robert Mugabe came to power, Robert took an active position in the development of democracy in his country. However, the methods that he used, sometimes went against these principles. Political opponents who competed with him were eliminated by various methods, including physical destruction.

When a civil uprising broke out in 1981, it was brutally suppressed by the armed forces. According to some reports, in the ethnic cleansings after that, up to 20,000 thousand people disliked by the regime were killed. Mugabe in 1991 supported the Ethiopian dictator and gave political asylum to him and his family. In 1998, he got involved in the civil war in the Congo. After the failure of the constitutional reform in Zimbabwe, land "lawlessness" began. The colonialists began to select lands, farms and hand them over to loyal supporters of the president's regime.

This could not go unnoticed. Subsequent elections Mugabe conducted with obvious violations of the rights of voters. To stay in power, in the course were fraud with bulletins and intimidation. In 2002, a number of European countries and the United States imposed sanctions against the Mugabe regime, and the IMF stopped supporting the country's economy.

Zimbabwe and Mugabe

Despite everything, the president has a strong support among the population. They are mostly veterans of the liberation movement for independence and members of their families who received the lands and privileges of the regime. Another part approves Mugabe's policy towards the US and Europe. Many believe that all of Zimbabwe's woes are from the desire to free themselves from the "white" colonizers.

The presidential election programs do not have special innovations. The main message is to prevent the West from returning to Zimbabwe the colonial rule, questioning the independence of the country and driving the black population on the reservation. The conclusion for them is one: who then, if not Robert Mugabe?

The country under his leadership is on the backward list, the population is starving. More than 95% of the population is beyond the poverty line. Life expectancy in the country decreased by an average of 15 years. This is caused by waves of violence, outbreaks of epidemics, famine.

The economically deprived economy is in decline. Severe crisis and reckless reforms led to a complete depreciation of the national currency. The population receives humanitarian assistance from the UN. The oppositionists, who were waiting for changes for the better, stopped believing in the elections under the current regime, fell into complete apathy. The only way out for them is emigration.

Reforms

The basis of the economy of Southern Rhodesia to the rule of Mugabe was the mining industry and agricultural products produced on farms of the colonialists. The redistribution of the land gave rise to the crisis. Far from this people came to the management of farms. Sown areas fell, production fell sharply, the industry ceased to make a profit.

Unreasonable cash payments to veterans of the liberation movement led to the beginning of inflation. In the midst of the global crisis, the economy of Zimbabwe collapsed. Hyperinflation was estimated at hundreds of millions of percent. The US dollar was worth 25,000,000 Zimbabwean dollars. Unemployment was 80%.

The housing reform has led to the loss of a roof over the heads of hundreds of thousands of families. Declared by the slum control program, it was in reality a war with the citizens of the regions who supported the opposition candidate in the election. Only the demand of the UN and the threat to stop the humanitarian support of Zimbabwe forced Mugabe to stop the "housing reform".

In such conditions, the EU sanctions and the termination of the IMF's funding do not allow the dictatorial regime to develop. This affects the entire population.

The curiosities of Robert Mugabe

The President of Zimbabwe is known for his extraordinary actions and sharp insults to the leaders of countries unfriendly to him. I remember his unexpected and uninvited visit to the UN in 2008 and the accusatory speech.

After the decision to legalize same-sex marriages in the US, Obama received a proposal of the hand and heart from the harsh homophobia of Mugabe. From his lips addressed to the Prime Minister of Great Britain and the German Chancellor, insulting statements were made several times. Mugabe blames them for all the troubles in Zimbabwe.

Old age also makes itself felt. 91-year-old Mugabe Robert at the opening of the parliament for about half an hour uttered the same speech as at the previous meeting. The press service of the president was accused of everything. When he left the plane, he unexpectedly stumbled and almost fell down when he was a journalist. The security service demanded the removal of all photos of the incident.

Repeatedly in the press there was information about the possible illness of Robert Mugabe. He was noticed more than once in clinics and centers for the treatment of cancer. Despite everything, the oldest president continues to rule the country, and the ruling party of Zimbabwe has already nominated him for the next elections, due in 2018, as his candidate.