Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has been awarded the Confucius Award and praised his leadership in ‘overcoming hardship.’ The 91-year-old picked up the prize after beating off competition from other candidates, including Microsoft founder and renowned philanthropist Bill Gates and South Korea’s president Park Geun-hye.
Mugabe has presided over the country for 35 years despite lengthy periods of economic and political turmoil. The Confucius prize latest winner follows in the footsteps of previous winners Vladimir Putin and Fidel Castro. A statement from the prize committee declared that Mugabe had helped to improve the welfare of his people, despite the continual use of intimidation and detainment.
Despite Mugabe’s reputation of brutality and economic mismanagement of Zimbabwe, Qiao Damo, the committee’s chairman supported the decision to award Mugabe with the prize. ‘Every country’s economy has its highs and lows. Though its economy is lagging behind, Zimbabwe is a very stable country and stability is precious in the African continent, he said.
Did You Know?
- Zimbabwe is a landlocked country in south-central Africa.
- The name “Zimbabwe” is derived from two words of Shona language ‘dzimba’ (menaing ‘houses’) and ‘mabwe’ (meaning ‘stones’).
- Victoria Falls, the world’s largest sheet of falling water, on the Zambezi River at the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe was named in honour of Queen Victoria of United Kingdom by David Livingstone
- Harare International Airport is the largest and busiest airport in Zimbabwe.
- The capital city of Zimbabwe is Harare.
- Currency : Multi-currency system – US dollar and South African rand predominate
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