Robert Mugabe: Difference between revisions
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Just hours after he came to power his Presidential Guard started a pre-dawn revenge rampage on his political opponents and used it as an excuse to murder yet more white farmers than he previously had and seize their property. They raped as many women as possible, white and black, right in front of their families. He redistributed the seized property and money to lazy, incompetent cronies who promptly killed the farms and plunged the rest of the country into abject poverty while the regime subsisted on lavish foreign aid. | Just hours after he came to power his Presidential Guard started a pre-dawn revenge rampage on his political opponents and used it as an excuse to murder yet more white farmers than he previously had and seize their property. They raped as many women as possible, white and black, right in front of their families. He redistributed the seized property and money to lazy, incompetent cronies who promptly killed the farms and plunged the rest of the country into abject poverty while the regime subsisted on lavish foreign aid. | ||
During his early years in power, he assembled a special forces unit known as the Fifth Brigade, which massacred thousands of Ndebele in a series of [[pogrom]]s known as the ''[[Gukurahundi]]'' from 1983 to 1987. This was to punish the Ndebele | During his early years in power, he assembled a special forces unit known as the Fifth Brigade, which massacred thousands of Ndebele in a series of [[pogrom]]s known as the ''[[Gukurahundi]]'' from 1983 to 1987. This was to punish the Ndebele people for supporting the ZAPU (Zimbabwe African People's Union) over his party, the ZANU (Zimbabwe African National Union) which was mainly supported by the Shona, the ethnic group Mugabe belonged to. If they weren’t killed outright they were sent to [[concentration camp]]s. | ||
These massacres ended when ZAPU leader Joshua Nkomo agreed to merge his party with ZANU to form [[ZANU-PF]] (Zimbabwe African National Union - Popular Front) on 22 December 1987. All Fifth Brigade members were granted amnesty for their participation in the massacres. Although there are different estimates, the consensus of the International Association of Genocide Scholars or IAGS is that more than 20,000 people were killed. The IAGS has classified the massacres as a [[genocide]]. | These massacres ended when ZAPU leader Joshua Nkomo agreed to merge his party with ZANU to form [[ZANU-PF]] (Zimbabwe African National Union - Popular Front) on 22 December 1987. All Fifth Brigade members were granted amnesty for their participation in the massacres. Although there are different estimates, the consensus of the International Association of Genocide Scholars or IAGS is that more than 20,000 people were killed. The IAGS has classified the massacres as a [[genocide]]. | ||
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On 14 September 2019, Mugabe's funeral, which was also open to public attendance, was held at the National Sports Stadium in Harare, with an aerial photo showing the 60,000 capacity stadium to be about a quarter full. The funeral was attended by leaders of various African countries, including Mnangagwa, [[Uhuru Kenyatta]] of Kenya and Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa. | On 14 September 2019, Mugabe's funeral, which was also open to public attendance, was held at the National Sports Stadium in Harare, with an aerial photo showing the 60,000 capacity stadium to be about a quarter full. The funeral was attended by leaders of various African countries, including Mnangagwa, [[Uhuru Kenyatta]] of Kenya and Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa. | ||
==Gallery== | ==Gallery== | ||
===Images=== | ===Images=== | ||