This archive report was first published on 6 September 2019.
Robert Mugabe's life and legacy are well-documented, but one aspect of his personal life remains relatively unknown: his first-born son, Michael Nhamodzenyika. Born in 1963 to Mugabe and his first wife, Sally Hayfron, Michael's life was tragically cut short when he passed away from cerebral malaria in December 1966, at the tender age of three.
Despite the loss of his first child, Mugabe went on to marry Sally in April 1961 in Harare, Ghana, where she hailed from. Tragically, Sally's life was also cut short when she died of renal failure in 1992, at the age of 61.
It is worth noting that Mugabe did not attend Michael's burial, a stark contrast to the outpouring of grief and tributes that followed his own passing in 2019.
Today, Mugabe's family is still reeling from the loss of their patriarch, but it is a lesser-known chapter in his life that highlights the complexities and challenges he faced as a young father.
