STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe New African Union Chairman

The controversial leader succeeds Mauritania's President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — African leaders Friday appointed Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe as the new chairman of the 54-nation African Union.

The 90-year-old Mugabe, who has ruled his country since 1980, succeeds Mauritania's President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.

The announcement was made during the African Union's two-day heads of state summit at the organization's headquarters in Ethiopia's capital.

Traditionally, the chairmanship is given to the leader of the country hosting the next summit, but exceptions have been made as in 2005 when it was the turn of Sudan's Omar al-Bashir but African leaders bowed to international pressures in the uproar over killings in Darfur. They passed over al-Bashir and instead kept Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo for a second year.

Zimbabwe, a once-prosperous nation of 13 million people in southern Africa, has struggled since Mugabe's government began seizing white-owned farms in 2000. Mugabe is accused of abuses by human rights groups. The country suffered hyperinflation until it abandoned its currency for the U.S. dollar in 2009.

Mugabe defeated rival Morgan Tsvangirai in a 2013 vote marked by allegations of irregularities. Mugabe's victory ended an uneasy power-sharing deal with the opposition, but foreign investors have been deterred by concerns about corruption and government policies to force foreign-owned and white-owned businesses to cede 51 percent of their shares to black Zimbabweans. Hundreds of manufacturing companies have closed in the past year.

BET Global News - Your source for Black news from around the world, including international politics, health and human rights, the latest celebrity news and more. Click here to subscribe to our newsletter. 

(Photo: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

Latest News

Subscribe for BET Updates

Provide your email address to receive our newsletter.


By clicking Subscribe, you confirm that you have read and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge our Privacy Policy. You also agree to receive marketing communications, updates, special offers (including partner offers) and other information from BET and the Paramount family of companies. You understand that you can unsubscribe at any time.