Goodluck Jonathan Mourns Robert Mugabe

Former president of Nigeria, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, has joined millions of world leaders to mourn Robert Mugabe (1924-2019) ex Zimbabwe president who died on Thursday.

Jonathan said “Africa has lost a great nationalist. Robert Mugabe will continue to live in the hearts and minds of all lovers of freedom as the symbol of Zimbabwe’s emancipation. He was indeed a great African soldier and icon of liberation who fought relentlessly to restore his people’s pride and dignity.”

Robert Mugabe, a hero of Africa’s independence struggle whose long rule in Zimbabwe descended into tyranny, corruption and incompetence, has died at the age of 95, president Emmerson Mnangagwa has said.

In a statement early on Friday, Mnangagwa called Mugabe “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. May his soul rest in eternal peace.”

Monica mutsvangwa, the minister of information, confirmed the death, saying: “Yes it is really saddening. Some of us were like his children to him. We can never write our history without mentioning him.”

The passing of the former president, who ruled Zimbabwe for close to four decades before being ousted in a military takeover in November 2017, marks the definitive end of an era in the history of the former British colony.

Mugabe is believed to have died in Singapore, where he made frequent visits to receive medical care in recent months as his health deteriorated. As far back as November 2018, Mnangagwa, who took over from him as president, told members of the ruling Zanu-PF party that Mugabe could no longer walk.

Though once widely celebrated for his role in fighting the white supremacist regime in his homeland, Mugabe had long become a deeply divisive figure in his own country and across the continent.

His final years in power were characterised by financial collapse, surges of violent intimidation and a vicious internal power struggle pitting his wife Grace, 41 years younger, against Mnangagwa, his former righthand man. The rivalry was resolved when Mnangagwa, a Zanu-PF stalwart, took power when Mugabe reluctantly resigned after a military takeover.

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