An Early History Of Robert Mugabe - ‘He Was A Loner Who Carried Books To Herd Cattle In The Bushes’

The Late former president Robert Mugabe was born on February 21, 1924, into a Catholic family at Kutama Mission northwest of Harare.

Mugabe’s father was a carpenter. He went to work at a Jesuit mission in South Africa when Mugabe was just a boy, and mysteriously never came home.

Mugabe’s mother was left to bring up Mugabe and his three siblings on her own.

As a child, Mugabe helped out by tending the family’s cows and making money through odd jobs.

Mugabe was described as a loner and a studious child, known to carry a book even while tending cattle in the bush.

He attended school Kutama mission under the supervision of school director Father O’Hea.

A powerful influence on the boy, O’Hea taught Mugabe that all people should be treated equally and educated to the fulfilment of their abilities.

Mugabe’s teachers, who called him “a clever lad,” were early to recognize his abilities as considerable.

The young Mugabe concentrated on his studies, qualifying as a schoolteacher at the age of 17.

Over the course of nine years, he studied privately while teaching at a number of mission schools in Southern Rhodesia. Mugabe continued his education at the University of Fort Hare in South Africa, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and English in 1951.

Mugabe then returned to his hometown to teach there. By 1953, he had earned his Bachelor of Education degree through correspondence courses.

In 1955, Mugabe moved to Northern Rhodesia (Zambia).

There, he taught for four years at Chalimbana Training College while also working toward his Bachelor of Science degree in economics through correspondence courses with the University of London.

After moving to Ghana, Mugabe completed his economics degree in 1958. He also taught at St. Mary’s Teacher Training College, where he met his first wife, Sarah Heyfron, whom he would marry in 1961.

In Ghana, Mugabe declared himself a Marxist, supporting the Ghanaian government’s goal of providing equal educational opportunities to the formerly designated lower classes.