ABSTRACT
Robert Mugabe, the first Prime Minister of independent Zimbabwe, 1980–1986, and Executive President, 1987 until he was forced out of power in November 2017, is likely to have a checkered environmental legacy like a number of other world leaders before him who sought to make ecological conservation a pillar of state and nation-building. While he had his enthusiasts who praised him for being a champion of the environment, he also had his detractors who perceived him as an opportunist who used the environment to consolidate his authoritarian style of governance in the making of the Zimbabwean state. Neither claim is satisfactory on its own unless examined within the historical context and changing nature of the political economy of Zimbabwe. The chapter contends that, even as Mugabe displayed authoritarian tendencies from the onset of his rule and brooked no opposition, he started off as a benevolent and ecologically minded statesman who remained committed to improving human–nature dynamics in his country for his people for as long as he remained comfortably ensconced in his seat of power, especially during the period 1980–1999. However, as the prospect of losing power became real from 2000 to 2017 he took recourse to authoritarian measures that impacted on the environment directly or indirectly. Until the end of his reign, he believed he had to use authoritarian means to seize land for the environmental benefits of his people.
