Mugabe 's calls for racial reconciliation failed to stem growing white emigration , while relations with Joshua Nkomo 's Zimbabwe African People 's Union ( ZAPU ) also declined . In the Gukurahundi of 1982 – 1985 , Mugabe 's Fifth Brigade crushed ZAPU-linked opposition in Matabeleland in a campaign that killed at least 10,000 people , mostly Ndebele civilians . Internationally , he sent troops into the Second Congo War and chaired the Non-Aligned Movement ( 1986 – 89 ) , the Organisation of African Unity ( 1997 – 98 ) , and the African Union ( 2015 – 16 ) . Pursuing decolonisation , Mugabe emphasised the redistribution of land controlled by white farmers to landless blacks , initially on a " willing sellerwilling buyer " basis . Frustrated at the slow rate of redistribution , from 2000 he encouraged black Zimbabweans to violently seize white-owned farms . Food production was severely impacted , leading to famine , drastic economic decline , and international sanctions . Opposition to Mugabe grew , although he was re-elected in 2002 , 2008 , and 2013 through campaigns dominated by violence , electoral fraud , and nationalistic appeals to his rural Shona voter base . In 2017 , members of his own party ousted him in a coup , replacing him with former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa
Gukurahundi
Gukurahundi
Robert Mugabe