Robert Mugabe swept to victory in Zimbabwe's first free election in 1980. He then drove the country and its economy into the ground
. One was usually in his hand in those first, mostly happy, years as Zimbabwe’s leader. He would be home at State House by 5.30pm, slamming doors so that his beloved wife Sally would know to come rushing. They crumpled together on a low armchair, almost on each other’s laps, she eating custard as he sipped tea. Then he would drape a long arm round her while turning with the other the pages of a favourite novel, usually British, often a Graham Greene.
As an African nationalist in Rhodesia, ruled by Ian Smith in the name of white supremacy, jail was inevitable. His 11 years behind bars he recalled as a chunk of life pointlessly stolen away. Again, books sustained him. He acquired seven degrees. As it did for Mandela, Nkrumah and Kenyatta, prison also earned him political credibility. Outdoor activity was harder. In Mozambique after his release, as his fellow liberation fighters strutted in fatigues, he sweltered in a suit.
He blamed Britain for all ills, including his country’s complete economic collapse in the first decade of this century. Inflation soared to 500trn%; a generation of people fled. The British, he claimed, had broken their word on paying for land reform. Yet he hankered for England, London shopping, Savile Row, cricket and high tea with “Johnny” Major. He was fonder still of royalty, telling with a twinkle of the queen’s happiness on visits to Zimbabwe.
His rule grew darker, possibly because Sally had died and been replaced by Grace, an ex-secretary 40 years younger than he was, even fonder of shops and more ambitious for political power. His opponents had once been co-opted; now he crushed them. Young thugs, egged on by him, punished white farmers by taking their land away. It was given to his friends, “war veterans” like himself, whether or not they had any idea how to work it. As a farming economy, Zimbabwe collapsed.
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