Zimbabwe has declared independence from Britain TWICE. Robert Mugabe became prime minister in 1980 and president in 1987. He is currently ruling from a hospital bed. The British treaty with Mugabe would not allow him to take the white farmers land but they gave Mugabe money to buy the land to redistribute it to native land owners. Mugabe used the money for his personal agenda. Businesses have failed because those that took over did not know how to make them work. Mugabe is 93 and ill. Hopefully improvements will happen when someone else takes over.