Robert Mugabe, Ousted Zimbabwean President & Liberation Leader, Dies at 95

Zimbabwe’s first post-independence leader, Robert Mugabe, has died at the age of 95. In 1963, he helped found the Zimbabwe African National Union in an effort to liberate the country from decades of white-minority rule. He was jailed from 1963 to 1974. Once freed, Mugabe became a leader of the liberation movement which successfully led to the formation of an independent Zimbabwe in 1979. He became Zimbabwe’s first prime minister in 1980, but he would continue ruling the country for the next 37 years. While Mugabe has been hailed as one of the most significant anti-colonial leaders of the 20th century, he was widely criticized for how he led Zimbabwe and for his refusal to hand over power until he was ousted in a coup in 2017. His death was announced by his successor, President Emmerson Mnangagwa. To talk more about the legacy of Robert Mugabe, we speak with Horace Campbell, professor of African American studies and political science at Syracuse University.

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