The Guardian

Robert Mugabe left millions of us in poverty and despair

The man who brought freedom to Zimbabwe was once a hero to many – but he died a tyrant who will not be mourned
Newspaper headlines reacting to the news of Mugabe’s death in Harare on 7 September 2019. Photograph: Jekesai Njikizana/AFP/Getty Images

Robert Mugabe is dead, never to come back again, and so are millions of Zimbabweans who preceded him, dying from easily treatable diseases, and from the violence that visited anyone who attempted to resist his tyrannical rule.

The dreams of millions of young men and women – who, to this day, roam the streets of Zimbabwe with university degrees but without jobs or any decent income – were extinguished long before him.

The fact that Mugabe is the final

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