Robert Mugabe Fall

Robert Mugabe Fall

Updated Feb 12, 2015 at 04:58PM EST by Brad.

Added Feb 05, 2015 at 10:16AM EST by Reggie Amiibo.

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About

Robert Mugabe Fall is a photoshop meme featuring a picture of the President of Zimbabwe Robert Mugabe falling down a step on his way to give a speech in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Origin

On February 4th, 2015, Mugabe stumbled while walking down a series of steps on his way to give a speech at the Harare International Airport (shown below).



Shortly after the incident, the Associated Press[4] (AP) released a photograph of Mugabe in mid-fall (shown below). That same day, the Zimbabwean news outlet News Day[3] published an article about the incident, reporting that other photojournalists were "forced to delete" their pictures of the president falling.



Meanwhile, Twitter user Sim Kaheru[5] posted the AP picture with an added speech bubble containing the caption "Nobody move! I saw it first!" along with the hashtag #MugabeFalls (shown below).


堯 Follow Simon Kaheru @skaheru #MugabeFalls .. I Saw li·irst Nobody move! I saw it first! #MugabeFalls FAVORITES 14 RETWEETS 45 1:33 PM -4 Feb 2015

Spread

Later that day, additional Twitter users posted various photoshops featuring a cutout Mugabe from the AP photo superimposed into other base images (shown below).[7][8]


alapperture °Garth @iapperture Follow I don't remember seeing Mugabe playing quidditch in Harry Potter 4:34 PM- 4 Feb 2015 109 RETWEETS 29 FAVORITES # Michael Kirkpatrick @OtimMichael Follow Mugabe impresses the judges on 'Dancing With The Stars' with his funky moves. @DancingABC #DWTS #MugabeFalls 오 ChimpReports, Rudende, XfmUG94.8 and 6 others I7 31778 2:09 PM -4 Feb 2015

Also on February 4th, Redditor raaabs submitted the photo to the /r/photoshopbattles[6] subreddit, where other Redditors replied with edited versions of the picture. The next day, the Zimbabwe Herald[12] published an article about the fall, which included a statement by Zimbabwe Information Minister Jonathan Moyo, who denied that the president fell:

‘’Nobody has shown any evidence of the president having fallen down because that did not happen. The hump on which the president tripped was formed by two pieces of the carpet which apparently had not been laid out properly where they joined. And to be honest with you, even Jesus, let alone you, would have also tripped in that kind of situation."

In the coming days, several news sites highlighted notable examples of the photoshop meme, including The Washington Post,[9] Latin Times Pulse[10] and Mashable.[11]

Suspension of Bodyguards

On February 8th, a week after the photograph of Robert Mugabe's fall went viral, Zimbabwean daily newspaper Standard reported that up to 27 members of the presidential security team have been suspended for negligence of duty after they failed to help the 90-year-old president get back on his feet after falling, citing anonymous sources within Mugabe's regime. According to the official:

“There are many departments that are being investigated, from Air Zimbabwe, the advance team and the security. I doubt if some of them will come back. […] The issue here is simple. The security team was caught napping. They were taking things for granted and failed to adhere to basics. It is protocol that the immediate proximity is, at most, three metres from the President. These are the bullet takers and in cases where he falls they are supposed to hold him either by the arm or by the shoulder and should never take their eyes off him.”

The newspaper also reported that the reprimanded members of the security team had violated the third rule in the official training manual, which outlines the minimum and maximum distance they should keep from the President. On the day after the publication of the article, Zimbabwean presidential spokesperson George Charamba issued a statement dismissing the reports of a shake up as a rumor.

Notable Examples


MUGABE ABIDES

Search Interest

References

Recent Videos 1 total

Recent Images 30 total


Top Comments

OoohKorra
OoohKorra

in reply to OoohKorra

- At the very beginning of Mugabe's reign, the Zimbabwean dollar was worth slightly more than the American dollar. In 2009, at the time of the currency's abandonment, the Zimbabwean dollar was estimated to be halving in value quite literally every day.
- Mugabe considers gays and lesbians to be "worse than dogs and pigs."
- Mugabe has proudly compared himself to Adolf Hitler.

Also, a primary reason for why they'd want this covered up is that Mugabe is 90 years old. Any sign of physical weakness could be a sign of declining health, which would likely lead to an uprising.

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