Reports on Wednesday say Zimbabwe’s military has placed President Robert Mugabe under house arrest in the capital Harare.
President Mugabe is not just one of the oldest African presidents he is also one of the longest serving leader.
Here are fifteen things about Robert you might not know.
1. Robert Gabriel Mugabe has been the President of Zimbabwe since 1987, which means he has been in office for 30 years.
2. Prior to becoming President, Mugabe led Zimbabwe as Prime Minister from 1980 to 1987.
3. He is said to be the most educated president not just in Africa but in the world. His alma mater includes; Kutama College, University of Fort Hare, University of South Africa, University of London
4. Mugabe like several early African revolutionary leaders spent a considerable number of years in prison.
5. Zimbabwe as a country also has a very high literacy rate when compared to other African countries: “Due to large investments in education since independence, Zimbabwe has the highest adult literacy rate in Africa which in 2013 was 90.70%.” says a Wikipedia entry
6. Even though Mugabe has a long uninterrupted run as a leader not so for his deputies. Joshua Nkomo , Simon Muzenda , Joseph Msika , Joice Mujuru, John Nkomo, Emmerson Mnangagwa, Phelekezela Mphoko are some of the people that has work with him as deputies.
7. Robert is the 13th Chairperson of the African Union.
8. He was born Robert Gabriel Mugabe on 21 February 1924 (age 93) in Kutama, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).
9. He belongs to one political party since 1987. The Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU).
10. Mugabe is of average height, measuring a little over 5 feet 7 inches, and exhibits what his biographer David Blair described as "curious, effeminate mannerisms". Mugabe took great care with his appearance, typically wearing a three-piece suit, and insisting that members of his cabinet dressed in a similar Anglophile fashion.
11. Another of his biographer Heidi Holland, who wrote “Dinner with Mugabe” said Mugabe’s first wife, Sally Hayfron, was Mugabe’s "confidante and only real friend”, being "one of the few people who could challenge Mugabe’s ideas without offending him.
12. While married to Hayfron, in 1987 Mugabe began an extra-marital affair with his secretary, Grace Marufu; she was 41 years his junior and at the time was married to Stanley Goreraza.
13. Mugabe has been a subject of many internet memes. Witty sayings and quotes (which he didnt say) are often attributed to him.
14. In 2015 A photo of Robert Mugabe falling down the stairs went viral after the then 90-year-old Zimbabwe president took a tumble outside Harare airport.
15. In a developing event the Zimbabwe millitary has taken over control of the country.
