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Tag: Mugabe

  • Mnangagwa reveals ex-president Mugabe’s last moments fighting cancer

    Zimbabwean President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, disclosed that the former President Robert Mugabe died of advanced cancer and had already been taken off chemotherapy.

    Mnangagwa, who is in the United States for the 74th session of the UN General Assembly told supporters of the ruling party ZANU-PF in New York that Mugabe had to be taken off the chemotherapy because it was no longer effective.

    Mugabe died in Singapore on Sept. 6, and his body was brought home on Sept. 11, 2019.

    A funeral service attended by regional leaders was held at the National Heroes Acre on Sept. 14, now lying in state at his home in Harare while a mausoleum was built for him at the national shrine.

  • African leaders, Zimbabweans bid Mugabe farewell

    African leaders, Zimbabweans bid Mugabe farewell

    Zimbabwe gave former leader Robert Mugabe a state funeral on Saturday with African leaders paying tribute to a man lauded as a liberation hero but whose 37-year rule was defined by repression and economic turmoil.

    Mugabe died in Singapore last week aged 95 on a medical trip almost two years after former army loyalists forced him out in 2017, following a power struggle over what was widely perceived as his bid to position his wife Grace to succeed him.

    Former and current African leaders, including South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa and Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta, arrived to crowds chanting and drumming liberation songs at the 60,000-capacity national stadium in Harare for Saturday’s ceremony. Nigeria is being represented by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

    Mugabe’s casket draped in the green, black, gold and red Zimbabwe flag was marched slowly into the stadium, accompanied by a military band and an escort of officers. His wife Grace, in a black veil, and family followed behind.

    “Let us put aside our differences and come together as we remember the past and look to the future as one proud, independent and free nation,” Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa said in a tweet.

    Mugabe’s body was returned from Singapore on Wednesday to a country he helped found as an anti-colonial guerrilla and pan-African leader who ended white-minority rule and helped bring more education and healthcare to the poor black majority.

    Later, Mugabe turned to repression and fear to crush dissidents and rule for nearly four decades during which he become an international pariah for his takeover of white-owned farms.

    “You can’t talk about Zimbabwe without Bob. Zimbabwe is Bob. It took a man like Bob, his bravery, to get independence,” said Norman Gombera, 57, a school principal in Harare. “Bob did his best under the circumstances. There is no country without a problem.”

    His final burial at a national monument will only happen after a new mausoleum is built in about 30 days. That decision was taken after his family ended a dispute with Mnangagwa, a former ally who turned against his rule in 2017.

    Though lauded as an African icon, at home many Zimbabweans will remember Mugabe more for the economic mismanagement that forced millions to flee the country during decades of crisis.

  • Zimbabwe announces new burial date, venue for Robert Mugabe

    Zimbabwe announces new burial date, venue for Robert Mugabe

    A burial for Zimbabwe’s former president, Robert Mugabe, will be held at the National Heroes Acre sometime in October, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said on Friday.

    It was previously agreed that there would be a symbolic burial on Sunday in the hilltop shrine in Harare, reserved for the country’s ruling elite, but family spokesman, Leo Mugabe, told reporters this plan had now been cancelled.

    The body will now go to Mugabe’s hometown of Zvimba on Sunday for traditional funeral rituals to be carried out before the burial.

    Mugabe will be buried in October after a mausoleum at the National Heroes Acre has been completed, Mnangagwa said.

    The confirmation comes after disagreements between the family and the government about where the former leader should be buried.

    The family initially said they would prefer to honour Mugabe’s wishes and have him buried next to his mother in his rural home in Kutama, about 85 kilometres from Harare.

    They then agreed to the symbolic funeral on Sunday in the hope that the real burial would take place at a later date, giving them time to carry out the traditional rituals.

    An official memorial ceremony is planned for Saturday at the 60,000-seater National Sports Stadium with a number of African leaders and former leaders expected to attend.

    Mugabe’s body was returned to Zimbabwe on Wednesday from Singapore, where he died at the age of 95.

    He had been seeking treatment there for an undisclosed illness since April.

    He was deposed in a 2017 coup after nearly four decades in power.

    Still revered by some for his fight against white domination as a former liberation fighter, he is widely despised by others who see him as responsible for destroying Zimbabwe’s economy and violently oppressing any opposition.

  • Osinbajo arrives Zimbabwe for Mugabe’s state funeral

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, will be representing President Muhammadu Buhari at the State Funeral for former President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, on Saturday.

    Prof. Osinbajo, according to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and publicity, Laolu Akande, would be joining other African leaders and Heads of State expected at the occasion scheduled for the country’s National Stadium in Harare.

    Heads of State expected to attend the funeral include President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa and President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya.

    Mugabe, who was Zimbabwean Prime Minister and later President for 37 years altogether, up until 2017, died last week at the age of 95 in a Singaporean Hospital.

    The Vice President, who would be accompanied on the trip by senior government officials, left for Harare Friday afternoon and is expected back in Nigeria later on Saturday.

  • JUST IN: Mugabe’s body arrives Harare from Singapore

    JUST IN: Mugabe’s body arrives Harare from Singapore

    The body of Zimbabwe’s founder Robert Mugabe arrived at the country’s main airport on Wednesday, but his final resting place remained a source of mystery amid a dispute between some family members and the government.

    Mugabe, one of the last “Big Men” of African politics who ruled the southern African nation for 37 years until he was ousted by his own army in November 2017, died in a Singapore hospital five days ago.

    He is proving as polarising in death as he was in life, as the fight over where he will be buried threatens to embarrass his successor, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, and deepen divisions in the ruling ZANU-PF party.

    The former president’s body arrived at Harare’s Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport shortly after 1330 GMT, a Reuters witness said.

    Crowds had gathered at the airport well before the scheduled arrival time, with some people wearing T-shirts bearing Mugabe’s face and others with Mnangagwa’s image, while music blared from loudspeakers.

    A convoy of 4×4 vehicles with number plates bearing the letters “RG Mugabe” and the former leader’s signature were also on the runway.

    Mugabe’s wife Grace and Zimbabwean Vice President Kembo Mohadi were among those accompanying the body of the former leader on the plane, Leo Mugabe, a nephew and family spokesman, said. Mnangagwa, top officials and other Mugabe family members were at the airport to receive the body.

    Leo Mugabe declined to say where Mugabe would be buried, saying only that on arrival his body would be taken to his palatial home in the capital, known as Blue Roof.

    On Thursday, ordinary Zimbabweans and supporters are expected to pay their last respects to Mugabe at a Harare soccer stadium, where the body will lie in state before being taken to his rural home in Kutama, 85 km (50 miles) from the capital, he added.

    Mnangagwa and his party want Mugabe buried at a national monument to heroes of the liberation war against the white minority Rhodesian regime.

    But some of Mugabe’s relatives have pushed back against that plan. They share Mugabe’s bitterness at the way former allies including Mnangagwa conspired to topple him and want him buried in his home village.

    A government minister said on Tuesday the burial was still planned for Sunday, a day after a state funeral. But the minister said Mugabe’s burial site would only be known once the body had arrived and government officials had consulted with the family.

    Mugabe left behind an economy wrecked by hyperinflation and deeply entrenched corruption, and a raging political rivalry between ZANU-PF and the opposition MDC.

    The MDC said in a statement on Wednesday that it had postponed its 20th anniversary rally because of Mugabe’s funeral. It said: “Notwithstanding our legendary differences with Mr. Mugabe, we have no reason to exhibit barbarity by hosting a national festivity during his funeral.”

  • JUST IN: Mugabe’s burial postponed indefinitely

    The burial of the late former President Robert Mugabe slated for Sunday has been postponed indefinitely, Zimlive reports.

    Family members of the deceased ex-president confirmed the development.

    According to Mugabe’s nephew, Leo Mugabe, Mugabe was a chief and he would be given a traditional burial.

    He said, “Mugabe was a chief and he will be buried in accordance with tradition. The chiefs have not told us where he will be buried, so it is not clear yet. I also don’t know,” he said.

    Mugabe died on Friday at the age of 95 in Singapore, where he was receiving medical treatment.

  • Zimbabwe declares days of national mourning for late national hero Mugabe

    Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday declared the late founding leader of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, a national hero.

    Mugabe, 95, died Friday morning in Singapore, where he had been receiving medical treatment since April.

    In an address to the nation, Mnangagwa declared days of national mourning until Mugabe is buried.

    “Our party, ZANU-PF, has met and accorded him national hero status, which he earned and richly deserves,’’ Mnangagwa said.

    He also thanked the government of Singapore for medical care, it extended to the leader until his death.

    In a glowing and moving tribute, Mnangagwa praised Mugabe for his great contribution and dedication to the development of the country before and after independence.

    He described Mugabe as a great teacher, mentor and “remarkable statesman of our century’’.

    “Zimbabwe is free, has been free since 1980, thanks to the sacrifices of a generation of dedicated, veteran nationalists and freedom fighters pre-dating the 1960s, who included the late Cde Mugabe,’’ Mnangagwa said.

    He lauded Mugabe for his signature policy of reconciliation and forgiveness with former coloniser Britain soon after independence in 1980.

    He also commended him for spearheading the land reform programme under, which Zimbabwe repossessed its land from minority white farmers.

    “The late Republic icon will eternally be remembered and honoured for the bold and historic land reform programme, which he undertook.

    “Through this programme, indigenous Zimbabweans regained their long denied land rights to complete their sovereignty.

    “For that, he was especially vilified, shunned and punished by those who stood to lose from an end to colonial rights and from a just reassertion of African rights,’’ Mnangagwa said.

    He vowed to continue with Mugabe’s long-life vision and legacy of black empowerment.

    “As we mourn the passing on of our commander, liberator, founder and leader, we remain determined to carry forward the transformation he so fervently desired, including protecting and defending the gains of the struggle for which he made huge sacrifices.’’

    “On the backdrop and solid foundation of the First Republic, which he moulded as its leader, we today recover and grow our economy brick by brick until his life-long vision of an empowered people is realised,’’ Mnangagwa said.

  • ‘Zimbabweans suffered for too long under Mugabe’

    A British foreign office spokesperson says Zimbabwean people “suffered for too long” under the “autocratic rule” of late former leader Robert Mugabe.

    “There are mixed emotions in Zimbabwe today at the death of Robert Mugabe,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

    “We express our condolences to those who mourn Robert Mugabe’s death,” the statement said.

    “However, Zimbabweans suffered for too long as a result of Mugabe’s autocratic rule.

    “We hope that in this new era, Zimbabwe can continue to be set on a more democratic and prosperous path.”

    Zimbabwe’s long-time president Robert Mugabe has died at the age of 95 in Singapore, officials said on Friday.

    Zimbabwe’s current president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, who announced the death on Twitter, praised Mugabe for his role in the liberation of his country from white-minority rule.

    “His contribution to the history of our nation and continent will never be forgotten. May his soul rest in eternal peace,” Mnangagwa tweeted.

  • Buhari mourns ex-Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe

    Buhari mourns ex-Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe

    President Muhammadu Buhari has sent condolences to the government and people of Zimbabwe over the passing of the founding father and former President, Robert Mugabe, 95.

    The President, in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and publicity, Chief Femi Adesina, commiserated with family members, friends and political associates of the political activist who fought for the independence of the country from colonial rule, and lived most of his life in public service

    President Buhari believed Mugabe’s sacrifices, especially in struggling for the political and economic emancipation of his people, will always be remembered by posterity.

    He prayed that the Almighty God will grant the soul of the former president rest and comfort his loved ones.

  • BREAKING: Ex-president Robert Mugabe is dead [1924 -2019]

    Zimbabwe’s longtime President Robert Mugabe has died. The former Zimbabwe president passed away in Singapore, current president Emmerson Mnangagwa tweeted this morning.

    It is believed he had been receiving treatment there since April.

    Mugabe had led Zimbabwe in 1980 before being ousted from power after a military coup in 2017.

    Nearly four decades after the country’s independence from Britain in 1980, he was regarded by many as a tyrant, willing to unleash death squads, rig elections and trash the economy in the relentless pursuit of power.

    President Mnangagwa this morning tweeted: “It is with the utmost sadness that I announce the passing on of Zimbabwe’s founding father and former President, Cde Robert Mugabe.

    “Cde Mugabe was an icon of liberation, a pan-Africanist who dedicated his life to the emancipation and empowerment of his people. His contribution to the history of our nation and continent will never be forgotten. May his soul rest in eternal peace.”

    Lawyer Fadzayi Mahere tweeted: “Rest In Peace, Robert Mugabe. My response to your passing is complicated. I’m going to write a long piece. However, for now, deepest condolences to his family.”

    As news broke of the tyrant’s death, social media users flocked online to give their views.

    One wrote: “Rot in hell, Mugabe.

    Another added: “Theres no reason to mourn Mugabe, that d**k head is the reason why Zimbabwean people are suffering.”

    And a third tweeted: “I wonder how the initial greetings between Mugabe and Satan will go?”

    LIFE OF A TYRANT
    Mr Mugabe, born 21 February 1924, was a communist and nationalist revolutionary.

    In the 1970s he led a guerrilla campaign against the minority white government in what was then known as Rhodesia.

    In 1979, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher announced that the UK would officially recognise Rhodesia’s independence if it moved to democratic majority rule.

    Mugabe was elected Prime Minister the following year when his ZANU-PF secured 63 per cent of the national vote.