During celebrations for his 93rd birthday on Tuesday, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe announced that he is not planning to relinquish his power, although for how long is unsure, because despite his determination, he appears to be wasting away and sleepy all the time. He also used that same interview as a platform to voice his support for US President Donald Trump, saying he is a huge fan of Trump’s political tactics, which have been a little more controversial in the western world.
Mugabe loves ‘American nationalism’
Mugabe, who has been the leader of the ex-British colony Zimbabwe since 1980, spoke out about his support of Trump’s “American nationalism,” explaining its logic as “America for Americans.” He said, on behalf of Zimbabwe and its Government and its people, “we agree” with this way of running things, saying his ideal Zimbabwe is “Zimbabwe for Zimbabweans.”
Mugabe’s interview went on a bit as he seems to be slowly losing his mind.
It was broadcast on a Zimbabwe-owned television station, so no producers could step in to tell him to hurry it up or cut him off, because by running the state, he in effect owns the station, so the only option was for bored Zimbabwean viewers to tune out.
Mugabe has often come under fire
Zimbabwe had one of the best economies in Africa until Mugabe showed up, and many critics blame him with its destruction, since his controversial policies (controversial policies, who does that sound like?) have undermined it, like violently taking control of white people’s farms, which had previously been doing good business, and printing a load of new money, probably without realising the delicacy of an economy and assuming that printing more money will fix the economy when really it just f*cks with its value.
Among the other accusations that Mugabe has faced whilst in power, he has allegedly remained in office for so long by rigging each election that’s come along in the past four decades, and also by pulling no punches in silencing his people’s opinions. No wonder he loves Trump so much; he’s basically the old black version. Mugabe credits the western world that he is now asking for help with ruining his economy.
Who is keeping Mugabe’s health in check?
He may think he can stay President forever, but sooner or later Robert Mugabe is going to die, and he’s been showing signs of declining health in recent years. In 2015, he very publicly fell over at an airport in Harare, and later that year he appeared at Parliament to deliver a speech, having delivered the exact same speech to Parliament one month previous (he seemed to have absolutely no idea he’d already done it).
Maybe he’s screwing with us because he seems to like a good laugh, but it seems improbable. During the interview, he looked really sleepy, like he could hardly keep his eyes open.
The media often say that Mugabe is going to die soon and he laughs these claims off, but it has to happen sometime. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life (that’s from “Casablanca”). Having destroyed Zimbabwe’s economy single-handedly and spent all of his government’s money, Mugabe says he still believes he’ll be able to create new jobs for his people.
Mugabe isn’t going anywhere any time soon
Mugabe will remain the President of Zimbabwe until his dying breath, unless his party tell him enough is enough and ask him to step down.
He vowed that “in such circumstances, I will step down.”
It seems state-owned newspapers have kinder words for Mugabe than the privately owned ones. The state-owned Herald published a 24-page birthday card praising him, while the privately owned NewsDay contained a scathing F-you from Luke Tamborinyoka, who wrote that “today’s problems need today’s people,” and joked that at the age of 93, Mugabe doesn’t “even belong to yesterday’s generation,” but rather the generation of two days ago.
Mugabe had a birthday feast of giant game animals. In years past, his banquet reportedly included buffalo, elephants, and impala.
