Robert Mugabe dies at 95: Zimbabwe president Emmerson Mnangagwa mourns death of 'icon of liberation'

Former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe passed away on Friday in a Singapore hospital aged 95, current president Emmerson Mnangagwa confirmed.

“It is with the utmost sadness that I announce the passing on of Zimbabwe’s founding father and former President, Cde Robert Mugabe,” tweeted the president.

It is with the utmost sadness that I announce the passing on of Zimbabwe's founding father and former President, Cde Robert Mugabe (1/2)

— President of Zimbabwe (@edmnangagwa) September 6, 2019

Mugabe “was an icon of liberation, a pan-Africanist who dedicated his life to the emancipation and empowerment of his people” Mnangagwa said.

The 95-year-old had been receiving medical care in a Singapore hospital for an undisclosed ailment .

Prominent Zimbabwean lawyer Fadzayi Mahere tweeted: “Rest In Peace, Robert Mugabe. My response to your passing is complicated. I’m going to write a long piece. However, for now, deepest condolences to his family.”

Mugabe, who was ousted from power in a military coup in November 2017 after 37 years of being in power, had been receiving treatment in Singapore since April 2019.

Almost after four decades since country’s independence from Britain in 1980, Mugabe was regarded by many as a tyrant.

Born in 21 February, 1924, Mugabe was a communist and nationalist revolutionary.

In the 1970s he led a guerrilla campaign against the minority white government in what was then known as Rhodesia, The Sun reported.

Then British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, in 1979, announced that the United Kingdom would officially recognise Rhodesia’s independence if it moved to democratic majority rule.

The following year, Mugabe was elected prime minister when his ZANU-PF secured 63 percent of the national vote.