The Age Editorial: When Robert Mugabe was a young boy, he was shy, prone to worry, and desperate to please his mother. A recent biography tells of his amazing rise from a village upbringing to become an African statesman, leader of a people’s long struggle for independence, and then, tragically, his dismal failure in office: an angry and suspicious old man, haughty, ruthless, and desperate to please only himself.

Mr Mugabe will be remembered for the ruin he has inflicted on Zimbabwe. True freedom for the people still awaits.

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