In 1988 students from the University of Zimbabwe began demonstrating against government corruption. Their protests grew into a national movement that indelibly changed the country.
Robert Mugabe, the nonagenarian Zimbabwean president, is the poster boy for Africa’s ageing leaders.
Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo
Why is Africa so saddled with ageing presidents who ought to be enjoying their retirement in peace when the continent desperately needs young, agile and innovative leaders equal to its challenges?
Robert Mugabe on the day the 91-year-old president read out the wrong speech at the opening of parliament.
Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo
I spent most of August 2015 in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia – a depressing and mournful tour indeed. The place I stayed in South Africa, on the outskirts of Johannesburg, is atypical. I am almost…
Grace Mugabe, scourge of her husband’s opponents.
EPA/Aaron Ufumeli
The Roman god, Saturn, ate his children, but was overthrown by one who got away. For politicians, the moral of the story is that you have to keep eating them, and hunt down all who might escape. That is…
There are many African presidents whose age far outstrips that of their peers on other continents. David Cameron (47), Barack Obama (53), François Hollande (60), Merkel (60), Vladimir Putin (61) – these…
He may look like a 90-year-old pariah, but Mugabe’s presence is as strong as ever.
EPA/STR
The Robert Mugabe who returned from Singapore for his 90th birthday celebrations was sprightly and energised. His Singapore sojourns, officially designated as trips to treat eye problems, invigorate more…
Onward and upward? Guess which is which.
EPA/Ntswe Mokoena
At the end of 2012, I published a deliberately surreal novel entitled Joseph Kony and the Titans of Zagreb. In it, using satire and magic realism, I tied together the corrupt destinies of figures on both…