BBC World Service, I'm Audrey Brown and over the next half hour I'll be looking back at the life of Robert Mugabe and assessing his legacy.

He was known around the world as the liberator of Zimbabwe, a ferocious freedom fighter who stood up to colonial oppression.

Then his legacy darkened into that of a brutal tyrant who clung to power and impoverished his country.

We can't learn the rule of law from the British.

They cannot be our teachers of democracy because we introduced

democracy in this country. There was never any democracy here.

In the declining years of his long rule, Robert Mugabe was seen by many as an archetypal African dictator.

As his country collapsed around him, he became even more imperious and intolerant.

But in 1980, when Mugabe led Zimbabwe to independence

after a guerrilla war, he won worldwide acclaim

for his statement ship and his generosity of spirit.

I heard you whether you are black or white to join me in a new

pledge to forget our grim past, forgive others and forget, join hands in a new amity and together

Zimbabweans trample upon racialism, tribalism and regionalism.

There's a wonderful words, you know, really wonderful words.

My chest would almost best with pride, quite honestly.

Lawrence Vambe, who knew Robert Mugabe from school days,

recalls the excitement felt by many

in the early years of the newly independent Zimbabwe. That is the

expression the true expression of Shona philosophy. I thought it was

wonderful. So did the whites. Many whites were on the point of living the country.

sat back and said, well, this guy is not a bad guy, is he?

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