Categories: Stories

Is Mugabe that naïve?

Heidi Holland’s book: Dinner with Mugabe is fascinating. The book is supposed to be an analysis of how Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, a freedom fighter, turned into a tyrant. But it has one serious flaw. It argues that there was only one reason why Mugabe became a tyrant – his upbringing.  Holland argues that Mugabe’s dominant mother Bona drilled the young boy to believe that he was special and was destined for greatness. Catholic priest and doctor Father O’Hea reinforced this view. Mugabe’s father made things worse by abandoning the family soon after the death of Robert’s elder brother Michael.

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Charles Rukuni

The Insider is a political and business bulletin about Zimbabwe, edited by Charles Rukuni. Founded in 1990, it was a printed 12-page subscription only newsletter until 2003 when Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation made it impossible to continue printing.

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