Robert Mugabe

Robert Gabriel Mugabe (born February 21, 1924) has been the head of government in Zimbabwe, first as Prime Minister and later as first executive President, since 1980.

Movie connection (April 2005)

Robert Mugabe is supposedly the inspiration for Dr. Zuwanie, the central African character in the movie The Interpreter with Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman which takes place at the United Nations. Zuwanie is a controversial African leader who travels to New York to make a speech to the United Nations General Assembly. He is portrayed as being a leader who rose to power as a liberator, but then grew corrupt and oppressive, much as Mugabe is considered to be. Further credence to this theory is given by the fictional name of the country controlled by Dr. Zuwanie, Matobo, sharing its name with a real national park in Zimbabwe which is the burial place of Cecil Rhodes. Also, Zuwanie is a Shona name (Mugabe's tribe).

Related Topics:
The Interpreter - United Nations General Assembly - Cecil Rhodes

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The movie is heavily criticized and condemned as CIA propaganda by Zimbabwean media http://www.zimbabweherald.com/index.php?id=46557&pubdate=2005-09-03.

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