The Rt. Hon  Robert Gabriel Mugabe  KCB
Mugabe in 1991.
President of Zimbabwe
Incumbent
Assumed office  31 December 1987
Vice President	Simon Muzenda Joshua Nkomo Joseph Msika Joyce Mujuru
Preceded by	Canaan Banana
Prime Minister of Zimbabwe
In office 18 April 1980 – 31 December 1987
President	Canaan Banana
Preceded by	Abel Muzorewa (Zimbabwe Rhodesia)
Succeeded by	Post abolished
Secretary General of Non-Aligned Movement
In office 06 September 1986 – 07 September 1989
Preceded by	Zail Singh
Succeeded by	Janez Drnovšek
Born	21 February 1924 (1924-02-21) (age 84) Kutama, Salisbury, Zimbabwe
Political party	ZANU-PF
Spouse	Sally Hayfron (deceased) Grace Marufu
Alma mater	University of Fort Hare University of London University of South Africa
Religion	Roman Catholic
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Robert Gabriel Mugabe KCB (born on February 21, 1924) is the President of Zimbabwe. He has served as the head of government in Zimbabwe since 1980, as Prime Minister from 1980 to 1987 and as the first executive President since 1987.^[1][2]

He rose to prominence in the 1960s as a leader of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) in guerrilla warfare against white-minority rule in Rhodesia in the Bush War (1964–1979).

Mugabe is an outspoken, controversial and polarizing figure. He is considered by many members of the African public a hero of the fight for independence.^[3][4] Other African commentators have been critical of him, particularly since Operation Murambatsvina in 2005. Much opposition to Mugabe comes from the United States, Europe, and British Commonwealth countries. The hallmarks of the Mugabe administration are its endemic corruption, suppression of political opposition, mishandling of land reform, economic mismanagement, and deteriorating human rights in Zimbabwe. According to critics, his administration's policies have led to economic collapse and massive starvation over the course of the last ten years. Zimbabwe has the highest inflation rate in the world^[5] estimated by the International Monetary Fund in January 2008 at 150 000 percent,^[6] and is, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Africa's worst economic performer.^[7] With a record 80% unemployment and soaring inflation rates,^[8] Zimbabwe is in its worst economic crisis since Mugabe took power.^[9] Former British Foreign Office Minister Peter Hain,^[10] senior Zimbabwean Roman Catholic bishops^[11] and John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York^[12] and others accused Mugabe's government of racist policies. Mugabe, in turn, has called his critics "born again colonialists,"^[13][14] and his allies in the African community, such as Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, respond to his critics by saying that Zimbabwe's problems are the legacy of colonialism.^[15]