http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa

The key to understanding Robert Mugabe is the 1970s guerrilla war where he
made his name. World opinion saw him as a revolutionary hero, fighting racist
white minority rule for the freedom of his people.

Since Zimbabwe's independence in 1980 the world has moved on, but his outlook
remains the same. The heroic socialist forces of his party, Zanu-PF, are
still fighting the evils of capitalism and colonialism.

His opponents, in particular the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), are
labelled as "sell-outs" to white interests and, as during the war, this tag
has been a death warrant for several MDC supporters. .

Mugabe's critics - and these days they are many in a country where he was
once an untouchable figure - say that despite his socialist rhetoric, his
rule has been one of state capitalism which has not materially benefited
ordinary Zimbabweans.

Cronies:

The president's political cronies have meanwhile been given lucrative state
contracts irrespective of how they perform, and the economy as a whole has
suffered.

At 76, the only leader Zimbabwe has known, still has amazing stamina. He jets
around the world on various diplomatic jaunts and on his return, rarely takes
a rest before launching himself into the latest political intrigues at home.


Journalists and officials less than half his age have a tough job keeping up
with his pace. His second wife, Grace, 35, says that he wakes up at 0400 for
his daily exercises. In 1997, she gave birth to their third child, Chatunga.

Inequalities:

Robert Gabriel Mugabe was born in 1924 in Kutama Mission in Zvimba, 60 km
west of Harare. The surrounding areas of Trelawney and Darwendale boast some
of Zimbabwe's best farm-land, mostly owned by white commercial farmers who
have become rich by growing tobacco - Zimbabwe's major cash crop.

While growing up, Robert Mugabe witnessed at first hand the unequal
distribution of land in the then Rhodesia.

He professes to be a staunch Catholic, and worshippers at Harare's Catholic
Cathedral are occasionally swamped by security guards as he turns up for
Sunday Mass.

However, Mugabe's beliefs did not prevent him from having two children by his
young secretary, Grace, while his popular Ghanaian first wife, Sally, was
dying from cancer.

His marriage to Grace in 1996 was a public relations disaster. Since then,
the economy has steadily declined, along with Mugabe's popularity.

Achievements:

One of the undoubted achievements of Robert Mugabe's 20 years in power is the
expansion of education. Zimbabwe has the highest literacy rate in Africa at
85% of the population.

Mr Mugabe was a teacher for 20 years before entering politics in 1960 and
strongly believes that education is the best investment a country can make.

Political scientist Masipula Sithole says that, ironically, by expanding
education, Mugabe is "digging his own grave". The young beneficiaries are now
able to analyse Zimbabwe's problems for themselves and most blame government
corruption and mismanagement for the lack of jobs and rising prices.

Robert Mugabe instead talks about economic sabotage by the West, and in
particular by the International Monetary Fund, which forced Zimbabwe to adopt
free-market reforms in 1991, when the state could no longer finance the huge
programme of social spending started at independence. Only his party
stalwarts now agree.

Living standards fall:

The MDC is the first serious challenge to Mugabe's rule

As many others have found, it is far easier to find ways of sharing the
national cake than to make it grow bigger. Professor Tony Hawkins of the
University of Zimbabwe sums it up by saying that "whenever economics gets in
the way of politics, politics wins every time".

After 20 years, living standards are falling by the day and Zimbabweans are
blaming the man at the top.

But Mugabe is a proud man and, in his own way, a clever politician. As his
fortunes decline, he is trying to resurrect the nationalist agenda of the
1970s - land and anti-colonialism.

Desperate measures

Land invasions are Mugabe's latest political ploy

Never a strong believer in multi-party politics - he has borrowed much of his
politics from Mao Zedong's China - in 1990 Mugabe tried to establish a
one-party state. Surprisingly, his own Zanu-PF party rejected the idea.

Now, with the MDC rapidly gaining ground, he has unleashed the self-styled
war veterans who are using violence and murder as an electoral strategy. It
may not be playing by the rules but it may work in the short-term as
opposition sympathisers stay at home, unwilling to risk their lives.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu said that Mugabe is becoming a cartoon figure of the
archetypal Africa dictator. Like many of Africa's independence heroes, he is
demonstrating that it takes very different skills to direct a guerrilla war
or independence struggle and to successfully manage a national economy or
pluralist democracy in the globalised 21st century.

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