Robert Mugabe, Strongman Who Cried, ‘We Are Not A British colony,’ Dies at 95. 🇿🇼

Robert Gabriel Mugabe was the only leader his nation had known since independence in the 1980s. For some Zimbabweans, he was seen as a strongman, a hero, visionary, etc. He was the first prime minister and later president of an independent Zimbabwe. He then traded the mantle of a liberator for the helm of a dictator and presided over the dissolution of one of Africa’s most wealthy lands.

So, what is exactly the legacy of Mugabe?

The positives: The man who fought for Zimbabwe’s independence and later became prime minister, and then president. He was pretty much the father of Zimbabwe. As president, he believed in education. And one of his legacies, without contradicting the fact would be his understanding of the importance of human capital development in a post-colonial African country. He built one of the strongest educational systems in post-colonial Africa. Due to his love for education, 89.19% (UNESCO) of Zimbabweans became literate. Today, Zimbabwe still boasts one of the highest literacy rates in post-colonial Africa.