From liberator and hero to dictator and tyrant: Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe dies at 95

He held power for almost 40 years, starting with the joy of freedom from colonialism, but descending into bloodshed and political persecution. Now Zimbabwe’s long-time leader Robert Mugabe has died in a hospital in Singapore at the age of 95.

His successor, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, described him as an “icon of liberation”, while there were tributes from leaders in South Africa and Kenya.

But to his many critics, he was a megalomaniac, who impoverished and terrorised his own people.