'BITTER MAN': Robert Mugabe
ROBERT MUGABE died “a very bitter” man, his nephew has said.
The former Zimbabwe leader died last week at the age of 95. He had been undergoing treatment at a hospital in Singapore for several months.
Speaking to the BBC from the former leader’s home, Leo Mugabe said that his uncle struggled with people turning against him.
"Imagine people you trusted - people that were guarding you, looking after you - [turning] against you," Leo Mugabe said.
"He was very bitter and it dented his legacy," Mugabe told the BBC.
He added: "It was not an easy thing for him to take.”
Mugabe came to power with an overwhelming majority in the Republic of Zimbabwe’s first election in 1980.
Positive aspects of his leadership include helping to secure Zimbabwe’s independence and improving the accessibility of healthcare and education to black people in the country but as his time in power went on, he sanctioned violence against his opponents and disastrously mishandled the country's economy.
In 2017, he was ousted from power as the result of a coup. He was replaced by his former deputy, Emmerson Mnangagwa.
While the world continues to debate the former leader’s legacy, Mugabe’s supporters in Zimbabwe are gearing up to welcome him home.
His body will return to Zimbabwe on Wednesday prior to a ceremony at his home, according to the BBC.
Mugabe’s state funeral will take place on Saturday at the National Sports Stadium in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, which has a capacity of 60,000.
Details of Mugabe’s final resting place have not been confirmed.
Officials and relatives disagree over where Mugabe should be buried. It is understood that senior members of the Zanu-PF party have said he should be buried at a hilltop monument outside Zimbabwe's capital, but family members want his burial place to be in Zvimba, his hometown, The Guardian reported.