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Nurayda Albeez

Ms. Peters

World Studies B3

7 June 2022

How did Robert Mugabe Change from a Liberator to an Oppressor?

One of the most well-known and controversial figures in world history is Robert Mugabe. He

was a teacher, political prisoner, anti-colonialism activist, nationalist, and Zimbabwe’s first

post-independence leader who served for 37 years. Mugabe sparked an interest in politics when

he taught in Ghana a year after it gained its independence from Britain. Being in an African

nation ruled by Africans inspired him to go back to his nation of Rhodesia and join an

anti-colonialism party. However, Mugabe’s conflicts with other parties resulted in his

imprisonment where he was chosen to lead the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU). This

association helped Rhodesia gain its independence from Britain and after a fair election, Mugabe

became the leader of the new nation of Zimbabwe (Pearce). He was considered to be the savior

of Zimbabwe for two decades, but this image deteriorated in the 2000s as he began abusing his

power. Mugabe changed from a liberator to an oppressor by causing economic decline, extensive

corruption, and human rights violations.

At the beginning of his administration, Mugabe promised to develop a free-market economy

and assured Zimbabwe’s white minority that they would not be treated unfairly; both of which

heavily raised his popularity (Pearce). He also made big advancements in health services,

educational institutions, and women’s rights. The “government built hundreds of rural health

centers and primary schools and improved the road access to rural areas” (Robert Mugabe). This

allowed Zimbabwe to develop the highest literacy rate in Africa and have a strong healthcare

system with highly qualified professionals (Pearce). In addition to this, Mugabe passed
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legislation which empowered women by giving them the right to “enter into any transaction

without the consent of male kin”, erasing “sex-based discrimination at work” in terms of income,

and changing “property distribution practices in the event of divorce” so that they didn’t favor

men (Nhongo-Simbanegavi). All these actions caused world leaders to consider Mugabe a

liberator. He was even awarded the Africa Prize for Leadership for the Sustainable End to

Hunger, Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding, Olympic Order of Gold,

Order of Jamaica, and honorary collegiate degrees from several universities including the

University of Michigan (Robert Mugabe).

Over time, Mugabe’s democratic rule became increasingly authoritarian. His obsession with

power blinded him to the needs of his people. The first blow to his popularity came with the

1998 international financial crisis during which Zimbabwe's unemployment rate skyrocketed

along with inflation. Mugabe’s hateful comments towards the LGBTQ+ community and his

attempt to change the country’s constitution was widely disapproved of and didn’t help with his

reputation either. This led to another political party, The Movement for Democratic Power

(MDC), almost winning the election of 2000 if it hadn’t been rigged through voter fraud and

intimidation (Pearce). Following this election, Zimbabwe’s economy continued to go downhill.

To improve this situation, “Mugabe's government instituted a plan to seize 9.5 million hectares

(23 million acres) of land from white commercial farmers, giving them to small-scale farmers

and other Zimbabweans” (Zimbabwe). This racist act resulted in the deaths of several white

farmers and their black workers, severe losses in the agriculture sector, and starvation for

millions of Zimbabweans. As more journalists began criticizing Mugabe, he took away their

freedom of speech by requiring them to have special licenses to publish articles. This was the

final straw that triggered the US government, who once honored Mugabe for bringing stability to
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Zimbabwe, to impose sanctions on the country, further damaging its weak economy (Pearce). Yet

Mugabe’s corrupt government composed of “army generals, police chiefs, senior civil servants,

and political cronies willing to do his bidding” continued to ensure that he ruled and won

elections (Meredith). In 2008, Mugabe even said that “‘Only God, who appointed me, will

remove me – not the MDC, not the British. Only God will remove me!’” (The wit and wisdom).

To really put Mugabe’s devastating effects on Zimbabwe into perspective, the average life

expectancy of the people he ruled halved within a decade (Robert Mugabe).

Seeing such a well respected leader turn into a dictator whose ousting led to celebrations

around the world begs the question as to why he transformed for the worse. One claim is that

Mugabe had “never been shy about his goal to destroy the opposition” (Jervis 294). This can be

seen with how Mugabe dismissed Joshua Nkomo from his government a few years after he

started his presidency because he believed that Nkomo’s party was plotting a coup against him

(Pearce). Nkomo led the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU), which was ZANU’s

opposing party. Another claim is that Zimbabwe's “economic troubles can be laid at the door of

Britain” and that Mugabe was simply “the scapegoat” (Shire 32). This perspective discusses how

Britain created economic issues in Zimbabwe by taking advantage of their membership with the

British Commonwealth (33). Furthermore, this perspective covers how circumstances in

Zimbabwe were often exaggerated and falsified (34).

Mugabe’s change from a liberator to an oppressor undoubtedly caused the flourishing nation

of Zimbabwe to wither into an area of economic ruin filled with corruption and violence at every

corner. Today, Zimbabwe’s impoverished streets reflect Mugabe’s misrule. The unfortunate truth

is that there is little hope for Zimbabwe to improve its condition because authoritarian leaders

like Mugabe always leave a negative mark on their nation that cannot be erased.
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Works Cited

Jervis, David. "THE REASONS WHY ROBERT MUGABE BECAME A TYRANT." Journal of

Third World Studies, vol. 26, no. 2, 2009, pp. 293–96. JSTOR,

http://www.jstor.org/stable/45194583. Accessed 3 Jun. 2022.

Matt, Pearce. "Robert Mugabe." Robert Mugabe, May 2020, p. 1–N.PAG. EBSCOhost,

https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=khh&AN=15317122&site=hrc-l

ive.

Meredith, Martin. "Mugabe's Misrule." Foreign Affairs, vol. 97, no. 2, Mar. 2018, pp. 129–38.

EBSCOhost,

https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=khh&AN=127778208&site=hrc

-live.

Nhongo-Simbanegavi, Josephine. "For Better Or Worse? Women And ZANLA In Zimbabwe's

Liberation Struggle." Accord, 2000,

www.accord.org.za/ajcr-issues/for-better-or-worse-women-and-zanla-in-zimbabwes-liber

ation-struggle/. Accessed 2 June 2022.

"Robert Mugabe." African Biography, Gale, 1999. Gale in Context: World History,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/K2421000048/WHIC?u=lom_inac&sid=bookmark-WHIC&xid=

0bf3b76c. Accessed 1 June 2022.

Shire, George. "The Case for Robert Mugabe: Sinner or Sinned Against?" Black Scholar, vol. 37,

no. 1, Spring 2007, pp. 32–35. EBSCOhost,

https://doi.org/10.1080/00064246.2007.11413379.
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"Zimbabwe." Gale Global Issues Online Collection, Gale, 2020. Gale in Context: Global Issues,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/CP3208530194/GIC?u=lom_inac&sid=bookmark-GIC&xid=917

0bf94. Accessed 1 June 2022.