Mugabe, who died Friday at age 95, grew up in poverty as the son of a single mother who was a subsistence farmer. His 37-year reign and fist-shaking tirades against the former colonial powers of the West made him the ruler that many other African leaders emulate today. And he was one of Africa’s great liberators, who ruthlessly led the guerrilla force that ended white-minority rule in Rhodesia and brought about majority-rule Zimbabwe in 1980. He was one of the continent’s most iconic rulers, arguably more popular for a time than his rival Nelson Mandela. That is how I remember Mugabe: an angry man who channeled his rage against colonial rule to become one of Africa’s most influential and longest-lasting leaders. He grabbed my arm and jostled me, causing my head to knock against a video camera behind. He glared at me and responded irately: “They have no rights whatsoever! They are an abomination and against human nature and God,” he shouted.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) - Robert Mugabe had just made a furious speech against Zimbabwe’s LGBT community, calling them “worse than pigs and dogs.”Īs he was about to get into his limousine, I asked, “Are you saying that gays in Zimbabwe have no legal rights?”

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Zimbabwe president speech about racism