As AfroAmerica Network predicted (see here) Robert Mugabe resigned as Zimbabwe’s president on Tuesday, November 21, 2017, a week after the Zimbabwean army and many of his former freedom fighters comrades moved against him. His resignation ends his reign of 37 years. At 93-year-271-day-old, he was the oldest current serving state leader by age.
With the peaceful resignation, Zimbabwean people and Robert Mugabe have shown the world that change can happen in peace. On the one side, Robert Mugabe avoided the fate of the old foolish king in the Bible's Ecclesiastes 4-13: "Better a poor but wise youth than an old foolish king who no longer knows how to heed a warning." On the other side, Zimbabwean people who patiently and peacefully gave a chance to Robert Mugabe to come to his senses will certainly serve as a model to all other Africans.
Robert Mugabe was and will remain an African and Zimbabwean hero, for bringing freedom to Blacks in Zimbabwe and being a role model to Africans struggling for their rights and independence. Born to a poor Shona family in Kutama, Southern Rhodesia, he ended up leading a movement of freedom fighting that ultimately achieved the dismantlement of white minority rule and Rhodesia, and resulted in the creation of the current Zimbabwe nation in 1980.
Unfortunately, four decades of rule brought many failings that turned an independence hero to an archetypal African tyrant.
His once loyal army seized power, a week ago, after Robert Mugabe sacked former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was the ruling party ZANU-PF’s favourite to succeed him. Allegedly, Robert Mugabe sought to smooth a path to the presidency for his self-styled wife, Grace Mugabe, 52, known to her critics as “Gucci Grace” for her reputed extravagance and fondness for luxury shopping.
But Robert Mugabe refused to resign, despite backroom negotiations and pleadings, prompting the prospects of an impeachment procedure by the parliament, to legally force him out. He has finally heeded the calls, turning the page of an era and opening a new chapter in Zimbabwe's history, and hopefully, keeping his deserved place among African heros in the hearts of Africans and Zimbabweans.
As mentioned in the article, many African tyrants, started like Robert Mugabe. However, unlike him, many continue to ignore the call for a change. How about the longest serving or aspirant presidents-for-life or rather tyrants-for-life, such as Uganda's Yoweri Museveni, Cameroon's Paul Biya, Rwanda's Paul Kagame, Equatorial Guinea's Obiang Nguema, Republic of the Congo's Sassou Nguesso, Togo's Faure Gnassimbé, Deomcratic Republic of Congo's Joseph Kabila and others?
The question, now, is: will they follow Robert Mugabe's example and finally heed the warning?
