Mu ‧ ga ‧ be, Rob ‧ ert /muːˈɡɑːbi, ˈrɒbət $ ˈrɑːbərt-/ BrE AmE
(1924–) an African nationalist and politician who helped Zimbabwe to become independent. He became Prime Minister in 1980, when Zimbabwe became independent, and became its first president in 1987. Many people have criticized him and his government for using threats and violence against his political opponents in the 1990s and 2000s. After his reelection in 2002 Zimbabwe was ↑ suspend ed from the Commonwealth because many countries thought that the election was not fair or honest. In 2003, Zimbabwe officially decided to leave the Commonwealth. Mugabe was reelected in 2005. The opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), again complained that the elections had not been fair. In the 2008 elections, the Zimbabwe election commission announced that Mugabe's ZANU-PF party had lost control of the Parliament. This was followed by a disagreement about who should be Presdent.