Mugabe Dies; Liberated Zimbabwe Then Held It For 37 Years

(Associated Press) FARAI MUTSAKA and CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA September 6 2019 HARARE Zimbabwe Former Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe an ex-guerrilla chief who took power when the African country shook off white minority rule and presided for decades while economic turmoil and human rights violations eroded its early promise has died in Singapore. He was 95. Mugabe enjoyed strong support among the population and even the West soon after taking over as prime minister and Zimbabwes first post-colonial leader. But he was reviled in later years as the economy collapsed and human rights violations increased. His often violent takeover of farms from whites who owned huge tracts of land made him a hated figure in the West and a hero in Africa. His successor President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced Mugabes death in a tweet Friday mourning him as an icon of liberation." Singapores Foreign Ministry later said he died Friday at the Gleneagles Hospital there saying it was working with Zimbabwe on arrangements for Mugabes body to be flown home. Mugabe had received medical treatment at the hospital in recent years. Mugabes popularity began to rise again after Mnangagwa failed to deliver on promises of economic recovery and appeared to take an even harsher and more repressive stance against critics. Many began to publicly say they missed Mugabe. Forced to resign amid pressure from the military his party and the public in November 2017 Mugabe was defiant throughout his long life railing against the West for what he called its neo-colonialist attitude and urging Africans to take control of their resources a populist message that was often a hit even as many nations on the continent shed the strongman model and moved toward democracy.