Zimbabwe former president Robert Mugabe dies aged 95

TIL Desk/World/Zimbabwe/ Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe’s first post-independence leader, has died aged 95. He died after battling ill health, his family confirmed. Mr Mugabe had been in hospital in Singapore since April. He was ousted in a military coup in November 2017, ending three decades in power.

He won Zimbabwe’s first election after independence, becoming prime minister in 1980. He abolished the office in 1987, becoming president instead. Mugabe’s early years were praised for broadening access to health and education for the black majority.

 But his controversial land reform programme sparked an economic collapse and his latter years were marked by rights abuses and corruption. His successor, Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa, expressed his “utmost sadness”, calling Mr Mugabe “Zimbabwe’s founding father” and “an icon of liberation”.