Education legitimized Mugabe as leader

Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison at Robben Island for the cause of South African freedom. Robert Mugabe likewise was also imprisoned in 1964 at Hwahwa for the Zimbabwean cause of freedom from the tyranny of colonial rule.

During Robert Mugabe’s time at Fort Hare University he was introduced to the ideas of freedom. He was an exceptional scholar and was one of the first Africans to study English at Fort Hare University in South Africa at a time when there were very few Africans to go to tertiary institutions let alone universities. The colonial education system limited the number of Africans who attained higher education through a system of quotas.

 Mugabe went on to further study in Ghana where he met the Pan Africanist Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and was exposed to the ideas of liberty, freedom and the fight for African independence. When Mugabe went back to Southern Rhodesia now Zimbabwe he began to organize and to spread ideas of African liberation. Consequently the colonial regime did not tolerate this and Mugabe was imprisoned. Mugabe spent 10 years at Hwahwa prison from 1964 to 1974.

During this time Mugabe had enough time to strategize and to plan and re-plan his ascension to unquestioned power. He used his time as a political prisoner to study the law and economics. Mugabe was one of the most educated leaders of any nation holding up to 7 earned degrees. Zimbabweans revered education and the legend of Mugabe as the most educated man gave him competitive advantage over his opponents. The majority of the Africans were illiterate and Mugabe having several university degrees gave him access to positions of leadership and position himself to help the plight of his people.

 Mugabe clinched the title of the oldest and Africa’s longest serving dictator leader. During the 1980s Mugabe had an aura around him of control and excluded power, most Zimbabweans were in awe of him and in their eyes he could do no wrong. They would often recall memories of the past before independence and conclude that though things were getting tough in Zimbabwe it was nothing compared to life under the oppressive colonial regime. This was not difficult for him as a student of history he knew just what needed to be done to suppress the masses. He was always crafty enough to hold elections so as to try and legitimize stolen elections. Through the 1980s into the 1990s we saw the transformation of a man from wearing safari suits to custom made Armani suits while maintaining the image of the man of the people.