Zimbabwe's former President Robert Mugabe died at the age of 95 on September 6. Born in Zvimba, a district west of the capital of Harare, the former leader was ousted after ruling for more than three decades whose early promise never saw light due to economic instability, elections that were disputed and human rights atrocities. 

An idol of liberation

Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa confirmed Robert's death on Twitter, hailing him as an idol of liberation. 
President Mnangagwa said that Mugabe was considered an idol of liberation, who devoted himself to uplift his people. President Mnangagwa added that his involvement will always be honored.

Robert Mugabe took the reigns after the end of the white rule in 1980. He held international sanctions responsible for Zimbabwe's rocky economic condition. But an increasing level of animosity about Zimbabwe's cracked leadership and a few other problems paved way for interference by the military and proceedings that ultimately led to his removal from the post of the president. 

Large scale celebrations could be witnessed on the streets after the former President's resignation on November 21, 2017. People could be seen swaying to the tunes of the music they played in the hope of an environment that included freedom of speech and expression and hopefully a brighter future.

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After Zimbabwe was a free country, Robert Mugabe contacted the whites after a long war between the black guerrillas and the white leaders of Rhodesia. He laid emphasis on education and had new schools built. 

A bloodthirsty military crusade took place against a revolt in the western Matabeleland area that stopped in the year 1987, weaved a sour turn in Zimbabwe's fortunes. As time passed by, the former President was accused of holding on his presidential power through the means of violence and voter fraud. 

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A fractured reign

Mugabe's downfall during his final years as president was in a way related to his wife, Grace's, ambitions in the political sphere. An assertive figure, whose ruling party eventually lost to Mnangagwa as he had good relations to the military.

Despite Zimbabwe's fall during his reign, Robert remained confrontational, protesting strongly against the west for what he termed it as the neo-colonist attitude and telling his fellow Africans to take a measure of their resources. 

Towards the end of his reign, he held the post of the rotating chairman of the 54 nation African Union and the 15 nation Southern African Development Community. His criticism of the ICC (International criminal court) was heard by the leaders holding posts at a regional level who also were of the opinion that it was being used to target Africans in an unjust way. 

Mugabe did not have Nelson Mandela's charm, the leader who was against Apartheid and who became the first Black president of Zimbabwe in the year 1994. But he got admiration in a few parts for taking a stand against the west.

In a public event before his ouster, he said that the offering of a politician is to stop talking when the people who elected him get tired. 

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(With inputs from AP)