ZIMBABWEANS and political leaders from across the globe
yesterday expressed mixed reactions to news of the death of former President
Robert Mugabe, with some describing him as a judicious leader while others
labelled him one of Africa’s worst dictators who overstayed in power and
eventually ruined his legacy.
Last night, President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared Mugabe a
national hero and said all the coming days would be set aside for mourning
until the 95-year-old former Statesman is laid to rest.
Mugabe died yesterday morning at the age of 95 after being
admitted at Gleneagles Hospital in Singapore in April this year.
Friends and foes immediately took to social media to
express their views, with some analysts saying his style of leadership spanning
37 years was loved and hated in equal measure.
Mugabe was toppled in a military coup at the height of the
ruling Zanu PF party’s factional fights in November 2017 and immediately succeeded by his then deputy,
Mnangagwa, following a nasty fallout.
Mnangagwa broke the news of his political mentor’s death in
a tweet, describing Mugabe as a liberation war icon and pan-Africanist who
sacrificed all for the emancipation of Zimbabweans.
“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,” Mnangagwa said on
Twitter before cutting short his business engagements at the World Economic
Forum in Cape Town, South Africa, to come back home and arrange for the
repatriation of Mugabe’s remains.
Mugabe, who, during his tenure attracted scorn from the
opposition after denying national hero status to several deserving liberation
war heavyweights, is reported to have told close family members that he wished
to be buried at his rural home in Zvimba, Mashonaland West province.
Although Mnangagwa is yet to publicly respond to the
proposal, top Zanu PF sources said government was most likely to override
Mugabe’s deathbed wish and bury him at the national shrine, where his first
wife, Sally, was laid to rest in 1992.
National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC)
chairperson retired Justice Selo Maselo Nare said Mugabe would be remembered
for extending an olive branch to his white oppressors at independence in 1980.
Justice Nare added that Mugabe’s peace and reconciliation
efforts brought once warring parties Zanu and PF Zapu together when he and then
Zapu leader, the late Joshua Nkomo signed the Unity Agreement on December 22,
1987, allowing citizens to once again taste peace after the regrettable
Gukurahundi violence in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces.
“At a time the country was at a crossroads, Cde Mugabe
again signed the Global Political Agreement with the late MDC-T leader Morgan
Tsvangirai to pave way for the Government of National Unity. It is no
coincidence that the constitutional and legislative processes to establish and
operationalise NPRC began during his tenure as President,” Justice Nare said.
“The NPRC extends its heartfelt condolences to the Mugabe
family, President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the government of the Republic of
Zimbabwe for the sad (and) untimely departure of the liberation icon and Pan-Africanist.”
Most loathed at home, Mugabe was revered in the Sadc region
as an iconic leader. Many African leaders described Mugabe as a liberation
legend, with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta declaring
three days of mourning the former Zanu PF leader.
Neighbouring South Africa’s ruling African National
Congress (ANC) party hailed Mugabe for exhibiting principled leadership, saying
Africa was poorer without him.
ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule said Mugabe’s life
epitomised the “new African” who, having shrugged off the colonial yoke,
strived to ensure his country took its place among the community of nations,
firmly in charge of its own destiny.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa also acknowledged
the role Mugabe played in advancing regional solidarity, integration and
development through Zimbabwe’s participation in the Southern African
Development Community.
Mugabe’s decision to invest in his country’s education
helped the nation even after the collapse of its economy, South Africa’s
opposition United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa said in a
statement.
But Democratic Alliance spokesperson Solly Malatsi said
Mugabe would be remembered for his conflicting legacy as a liberator towards
independence and an oppressor of the democratic values he once fought for.
Britain, Zimbabwe’s former colonial master, said
Zimbabweans had “suffered for too long” under Mugabe.
“We express our condolences to those who mourn Robert
Mugabe’s death. However, Zimbabweans suffered for too long as a result of
Mugabe’s autocratic role,” the British Foreign ministry said in a statement.
The European Union said it would continue to stand with
Zimbabwe and its people to secure the democratic future of the country.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said: “Many important
dates in Zimbabwe’s modern history are tied to the name of Robert Mugabe. He
made a great personal contribution to the battle for your country’s
independence, to the building of Zimbabwean State institutions.”
GraÇa Machel, widow of the late Mozambican leader Samora
Machel and South African President Nelson Mandela, said Mugabe was like a
brother to her.
“Mugabe was my brother because before he came back in
Zimbabwe in 1980, he was in Mozambique. I knew him very well and when my
husband, the former President of Mozambique Samora Machel, was killed, I ran
and came to this country to Mugabe because I could not sleep,” she said in
Harare during a Zimbabwe Council of Churches Women’s Dialogue platform.
“When the former First Lady, the late Sally Mugabe passed
away, I also came to Zimbabwe to mourn with him because he was my brother. But
there is something wrong with leaders sitting in power for too long. As a
result, for the younger generation, they cannot remember that he contributed
immensely for the liberation of this country.”
Exiled former Cabinet minister in Mugabe’s government
Jonathan Moyo tweeted: “It’s sad you have gone at the most trying time for
Zimbabwe. Truth-telling will one day reveal how you fought your regime’s
enforcers to find each other with (Joshua) Nkomo in 1987 and (Morgan)
Tsvangirai in 2009; and why besides yourself, only (Nelson) Chamisa got your
vote for the presidency!”
Chamisa said even though his party differed politically with
the late former President during his reign, he recognised the positive
contributions Mugabe made as the country’s founding President.
“There’s so much to say for a life of 95 years and national
leadership spanning over 37 years, but in the true spirit of Ubuntu, we would
like to give this moment to mourning, but there will be time for greater
reflection,” the opposition MDC leader said yesterday.
MDC national secretary for elections Jacob Mafume said
Mugabe ruined his legacy by clinging to power against all odds.
“A lesson learnt is not to overstay in power, a lesson that
one can be many things to different people. Hated and loved in equal measure. A
ruined country remains, he died far from it,” Mafume said.
Another MDC official, David Coltart, said Mugabe made
immense contribution to the country’s education system, but also had a dark
side whose negative legacy will live on and haunt Zimbabweans for decades to
come.
Youth Forum Zimbabwe director Ashton Bumhira blamed Mugabe
for the economic malaise the southern African nation is facing.
“For my generation, Mr Robert Mugabe should be remembered
for what he was to us. He was a dictator. He was ruthless. He is the author of
the current economic and political challenges we’re facing as a nation,” he
said.
“If it was not the coup, Mr Mugabe wanted to rule from the
grave. The current Zanu PF leadership is the epitome of his legacy.”
An entrepreneur in Mbare, the slums of Harare, Albert
Chibanda (29), described Mugabe as an iconic leader who empowered the youths
through various initiatives.
“It is sad to hear that Mugabe has passed on. To us the
youths, he empowered us through his indigenisation and empowerment programmes.
He was very influential. During his times, he supported us to establish
businesses which are enabling us to put food on the table for our families
today,” he said.
Petunia Mugadza (25), a vendor in the capital, said Mugabe,
through his economic policies, ensured that Zimbabweans would not suffer.
“I wish if he had lived longer than this. During his days,
we did not suffer like we are doing now,” she said.
Opposition New Patriotic Front leader Tendai Peter
Munyanduri also said “the world is now poorer without him and his
contributions. He tried his best while on earth!” Newsday
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