{"id":8164,"date":"2019-09-30T08:00:25","date_gmt":"2019-09-30T12:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thediplomaticenvoy.com\/?p=8164"},"modified":"2019-09-29T15:39:16","modified_gmt":"2019-09-29T19:39:16","slug":"robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2019\/09\/30\/robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert Mugabe, Former Leader of Zimbabwe, Dies at 95"},"content":{"rendered":"

Isha Ayesha
\n<\/strong>Staff Writer<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe died in Singapore\u2019s Gleneagles Hospital on September 6, where he had been under medical care. Mugabe, who is often credited with ushering Zimbabwe into the modern era, led the country from 1980 to 2017, reports The New York Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The cause of Mugabe\u2019s death has not yet been revealed. His body was repatriated from Singapore on September 11 and a state funeral was held on September 14, attended by several African heads of state and thousands of Zimbabweans. The former president\u2019s burial has been delayed for at least a month, however, until a special mausoleum is built in his honor in Hero\u2019s Acre alongside other national heroes, reports The Associated Press<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mugabe\u2019s death has received a rather lukewarm international response, however, attributed primarily to his controversial post-revolution career. While many applaud him for leading Zimbabwe\u2019s liberation from British colonial rule, he is also regarded with disdain over his sudden turn to autocratic rule, having turned the freshly independent country into a dictatorship and plummeted one of Africa\u2019s most prosperous lands into a place of violence, economic failure, and tyranny.<\/p>\n

The New York Times<\/a> notes that his own country\u2019s muted response to his death was to be expected. A once-powerful figure, Mugabe dwindled to a ghostly presence after he was overthrown in a bloodless coup led by his then Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa in 2017. Fearing that Mugabe might name his second wife, Grace Mugabe, as his political heir, he was placed under house arrest by army officers and forced to resign by his political party, the Zimbabwe African National Union\u2013Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF).<\/p>\n

Even two years after Mugabe\u2019s fall, Zimbabwe\u2019s economy is still suffering, with most of the population struggling to meet basic needs. A severe nation-wide drought threatens to propel the country\u2019s ruined agricultural sector towards collapse. Mugabe\u2019s strict policies banning land reform played a huge part crippling this sector of the country\u2019s economy, leading to a period of extreme hyperinflation and the ditching of the Zimbabwean dollar.<\/p>\n

Mugabe\u2019s legacy does boast a few revolutionary achievements for Zimbabwe, however. CNN<\/a> points out that Zimbabwe rose to become one of the most educated countries in all of Africa because of Mugabe\u2019s stringent education policies. A skilled negotiator and an eloquent speaker, Mugabe led the Independence movement from the British Empire to success, which secured him an easy victory in the first election for the country in 1980, says BBC News<\/a>. He continued to rule the country for almost four decades.<\/p>\n

Despite their soured political relationship, President Mnangagwa stated on Twitter<\/a>, \u201cIt is with the utmost sadness that I announce the passing on of Zimbabwe\u2019s founding father and former President, Cde Robert Mugabe. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe died in Singapore\u2019s Gleneagles Hospital on September 6, where he had been under medical care.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4562,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1726,382,1576,385],"tags":[1174,1249,1781],"class_list":["post-8164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-september-2019","category-international-news","category-1576","category-africa","tag-robert-mugabe","tag-zimbabwe","tag-independence-of-zimbabwe"],"yoast_head":"\nRobert Mugabe, Former Leader of Zimbabwe, Dies at 95 - The Diplomatic Envoy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2019\/09\/30\/robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Robert Mugabe, Former Leader of Zimbabwe, Dies at 95 - The Diplomatic Envoy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe died in Singapore\u2019s Gleneagles Hospital on September 6, where he had been under medical care.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2019\/09\/30\/robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Diplomatic Envoy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-30T12:00:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Isha Ayesha\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Isha Ayesha\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/30\\\/robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/30\\\/robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Isha Ayesha\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a78f3c81a752e6ae4d3f7fe4e798728a\"},\"headline\":\"Robert Mugabe, Former Leader of Zimbabwe, Dies at 95\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-30T12:00:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/30\\\/robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":501,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"Robert Mugabe\",\"Zimbabwe\",\"Independence of Zimbabwe\"],\"articleSection\":[\"September 2019\",\"International News\",\"2019\",\"Africa\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/30\\\/robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/30\\\/robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/30\\\/robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95\\\/\",\"name\":\"Robert Mugabe, Former Leader of Zimbabwe, Dies at 95 - The Diplomatic Envoy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-30T12:00:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a78f3c81a752e6ae4d3f7fe4e798728a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/30\\\/robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/30\\\/robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/2019\\\/09\\\/30\\\/robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Robert Mugabe, Former Leader of Zimbabwe, Dies at 95\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Diplomatic Envoy\",\"description\":\"Words Beyond Borders\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a78f3c81a752e6ae4d3f7fe4e798728a\",\"name\":\"Isha Ayesha\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b7be49291f0b547db0af8a61e119ad1d032ff3fbb9e5a4e685b423a77cc33b09?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b7be49291f0b547db0af8a61e119ad1d032ff3fbb9e5a4e685b423a77cc33b09?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b7be49291f0b547db0af8a61e119ad1d032ff3fbb9e5a4e685b423a77cc33b09?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Isha Ayesha\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.shu.edu\\\/thediplomaticenvoy\\\/author\\\/ayeshais\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Robert Mugabe, Former Leader of Zimbabwe, Dies at 95 - The Diplomatic Envoy","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2019\/09\/30\/robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Robert Mugabe, Former Leader of Zimbabwe, Dies at 95 - The Diplomatic Envoy","og_description":"Former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe died in Singapore\u2019s Gleneagles Hospital on September 6, where he had been under medical care.","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2019\/09\/30\/robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95\/","og_site_name":"The Diplomatic Envoy","article_published_time":"2019-09-30T12:00:25+00:00","author":"Isha Ayesha","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Isha Ayesha","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2019\/09\/30\/robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2019\/09\/30\/robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95\/"},"author":{"name":"Isha Ayesha","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/#\/schema\/person\/a78f3c81a752e6ae4d3f7fe4e798728a"},"headline":"Robert Mugabe, Former Leader of Zimbabwe, Dies at 95","datePublished":"2019-09-30T12:00:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2019\/09\/30\/robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95\/"},"wordCount":501,"commentCount":0,"keywords":["Robert Mugabe","Zimbabwe","Independence of Zimbabwe"],"articleSection":["September 2019","International News","2019","Africa"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2019\/09\/30\/robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2019\/09\/30\/robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2019\/09\/30\/robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95\/","name":"Robert Mugabe, Former Leader of Zimbabwe, Dies at 95 - The Diplomatic Envoy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-09-30T12:00:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/#\/schema\/person\/a78f3c81a752e6ae4d3f7fe4e798728a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2019\/09\/30\/robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2019\/09\/30\/robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/2019\/09\/30\/robert-mugabe-former-leader-of-zimbabwe-dies-at-95\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Robert Mugabe, Former Leader of Zimbabwe, Dies at 95"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/","name":"The Diplomatic Envoy","description":"Words Beyond Borders","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/#\/schema\/person\/a78f3c81a752e6ae4d3f7fe4e798728a","name":"Isha Ayesha","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b7be49291f0b547db0af8a61e119ad1d032ff3fbb9e5a4e685b423a77cc33b09?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b7be49291f0b547db0af8a61e119ad1d032ff3fbb9e5a4e685b423a77cc33b09?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b7be49291f0b547db0af8a61e119ad1d032ff3fbb9e5a4e685b423a77cc33b09?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Isha Ayesha"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/author\/ayeshais\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4562"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8164"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8166,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8164\/revisions\/8166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/thediplomaticenvoy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}