Robert Mugabe is famous for initiating the largest political process of land redistribution Africa has ever seen, by aggressively transferring land to the majority of native Zimbabweans – in nation and a people, who are now recognized as the bedrock upon which the Zimbabwean economy is starting to emerge. In retaliation, Zimbabwe and Robert Mugabe (the man and the person), had to endure the biggest economic, political, personal and travel sanctions any African leader has had to face ever.
Mugabe’s Land Reform Gave a Major Economic Boost to Agriculture
Mugabe’s land reform in Zimbabwe has been shrouded in controversy for years but some reports indicate that it actually had a positive impact on the country’s economy when it came to agriculture. A report by IB Times explained that the country’s “agriculture economy has changed dramatically. Production of wheat, coffee and tea has all declined, as has the export of beef…other crops, notably tobacco and cotton, have boomed, while small grain and edible bean production has also increased.”
He Was Heavily Influenced by Kwame Nkrumah
According to a report by the BBC, Robert Mugabe greatly admired Ghanian leader Kwame Nkrumah. Mugabe arrived in Ghana only a year after Nkrumah led the Gold Coast to independence in 1957, making it the first sub-Saharan country to escape colonial rule. The BBC report explains that Nkrumah’s leadership allowed Mugabe to have his own “political awakening” that influenced much of the policies he endorses today. Nkrumah wrote in his autobiography that “. . . of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was the Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey in 1923.”
