Burundi president Pierre Nkurunziza through his social media account paid tribute to Zimbabwe’s former president. Mr Mugabe had been receiving treatment in a hospital in Singapore since April. He was ousted in a military coup in 2017 after 37 years in power. PHOTO| Burundi Times
Burundi president Pierre Nkurunziza through his social media account paid tribute to Zimbabwe’s former president Robert Mugabe after the news of his death was announced, Mr. Mugabe was aged 95 died in Singapore hospital after a long illness.
“It is with sadness that we learned of the passing on of HE Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s independence hero and Valliant Artisan of Pan-Africanism,” said president Nkurunziza on his twitter handle.
“Our sincere condolences to his family, to HE Emmerson Mnangagwa and Zimbabweans,” he added.
Mr Mugabe had been receiving treatment in a hospital in Singapore since April. He was ousted in a military coup in 2017 after 37 years in power.
The former president was praised for broadening access to health and education for the black majority in Zimbabwe, but later years were marked by violent repression of his political opponents and Zimbabwe’s economic ruin.
Mr Mugabe was born on 21 February 1924 in what was then Rhodesia – a British colony, run by its white minority.
He was imprisoned for more than a decade without trial after criticising 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.
Once released, he headed to Mozambique, from where he directed guerrilla raids into Rhodesia. But he was also seen as a skilled negotiator.
Political agreements to end the crisis resulted in the new independent Republic of Zimbabwe.
With his high profile in the independence movement, Mr Mugabe secured an overwhelming victory in the republic’s first election in 1980.
He abolished the office in 1987, becoming president instead – a post he would retain through both electoral success and the use of violence for decades to come.
But over his decades in power, international perceptions soured, with an increasing number of critics portraying Mr Mugabe as a dictator.
In 2000, facing serious political opposition for the first time, he seized white-owned farms to resettle black farmers, causing economic disruption but boosting his popularity among supporters.
Around the same time, pro-Mugabe militias used violence to influence political outcomes. In 2008, when he lost the first round of the presidential election, attacks on the opposition resulted in his rival pulling out of the contest.
He famously declared that only god could remove him from office.
He was forced into sharing power in 2009 amid economic collapse, installing rival Morgan Tsvangirai as prime minister.
But in 2017, amid concerns that he was grooming his wife Grace as his successor, the army – his long-time ally – turned against the president and forced him to step down.
-Additional infromation by BBC