Robert Mugabe's Rule

Here is a look at Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, the 88-year-old who has ruled the southern African country for more than three decades.

1980 - Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party wins independence elections. He takes office as prime minister on April 18.

1982 - Mugabe deploys North Korean-trained troops to crush rebellion by ex-ZAPU guerrillas. Government forces are accused of killing thousands of civilians.

1987 - Mugabe and ZAPU's Joshua Nkomo sign a unity accord, leading to the integration of PF-ZAPU and ZANU-PF.

1990 - ZANU-PF and Mugabe win parliamentary and presidential elections.

1998 - An economic crisis marked by high interest rates and inflation provokes riots and increasing support for the Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unions led by Morgan Tsvangirai.

-- The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is formed and Tsvangirai is appointed leader in 1999.

2000 - Thousands of independence war veterans and their allies, backed by the government, seize white-owned farms, saying the land was illegally appropriated by white settlers.

2002 - Mugabe wins election against Tsvangirai. Observers condemn the poll as flawed and unfair.

2005 - ZANU-PF wins parliamentary election, giving it the majority it needs to change the constitution.

2008 - Parliamentary election results show ZANU-PF losing its majority for the first time. MDC says Tsvangirai also won the presidential election and calls on Mugabe to concede.

-- Run-off goes ahead despite calls for a postponement as violence mounts. Mugabe is declared the winner with over 85 percent after Tsvangirai pulls out.

-- Economy is crushed by hyperinflation, reaching billions of percent, due what analysts blame on Mugabe's mismanagement.

-- Negotiators from the MDC and ZANU-PF hold talks to end the deadlock over Mugabe's re-election, eventually reaching a power-sharing deal in September.

2009 - Tsvangirai is sworn in as prime minister by Mugabe.

2012 - Saviour Kasukuwere, Zimbabwe's empowerment minister, says he expects to finalise the transfer of majority stakes in foreign mining companies to local blacks by the end of April.

http://www.timeslive.co.za/africa/2012/04/18/a-look-at-robert-mugabe-s-30-years-in-power