Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe dies aged 95

Sep 6 (Somaliland.com) – Robert Mugabe, the first post-independence leader of Zimbabwe, has died at the age of 95. His family confirmed to the BBC that he died after a period of struggling against ill health.

The death was announced at the early hours of this morning on Twitter by his successor, President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

‘It is with the utmost sadness that I announce the passing on of Zimbabwe’s founding father and former President, Cde Robert Mugabe,’ President Mnangagwa wrote on Twitter on Friday, using the abbreviation for a comrade. ‘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.’

In August, Mr Mnangagwa had said that Mr Mugabe had spent several months in Singapore getting treatment for an undisclosed illness.

Mr Mugabe was ousted from power in a military coup in November 2017 which terminated his three-decade-long reign as president of Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe’s education secretary Fadzayi Mahere tweeted: ‘Rest In Peace, Robert Mugabe’.

Born on 21 February 1924 in what was then Rhodesia, Robert Mugabe was imprisoned for more than ten years without trial after criticizing the government of Rhodesia in 1964.

In 1973, while still in prison, he was chosen as president of the Zimbabwe African National Union (Zanu), of which he was a founding member.