Robert Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe from 1987 to 2017, and the prime minister from 1980 to 1987, often travelled via motorcade. His motorcade was known for its high speeds and involvement in numerous fatal accidents. It was often nicknamed "Bob Mugabe and the Wailers", a reference to Bob Marley and the Wailers, for blasting loud sirens and flashing bright lights upon approach.
It is common for African heads of state to travel in lavish and heavily armored motorcades, though Mugabe's was exceptionally long even by African standards. Mugabe often travelled with "half a dozen motorbikes, an ambulance, two truckloads of soldiers and about a dozen other mainly luxury vehicles," according to the BBC. Other compositions have been given. When pressed about costs, the presidential office stated that specific security arrangements were "not for public consumption."
Traffic often halted entirely when Mugabe was travelling in the vicinity. Since 2002, it has been against the law to obstruct the presidential motorcade or to "make offensive gestures or statements about it," which includes pointing. For instance, in 2016, a man was jailed for two years and barred from driving trucks for life after he obstructed Mugabe's convoy and attempted to evade police. The British government warned its citizens against driving while the president passed, noting that police often assaulted those who do not stop fast enough. In some cases, motorists were shot at for not stopping in time.
Mugabe had travelled in an armoured motorcade since before his premiership began in 1980. Mugabe, who had been targeted by assassination attempts in the 1980s, ordered his motorcade to be heavily fortified against potential assassins or other threats. The Mail & Guardian reported that the motorcade often included semiautomatic and machine guns.
Mugabe's motorcade was known for speeding on a regular basis and killing people. Ordinary Zimbabweans nicknamed the motorcade Bob Mugabe and the Wailers, a reference to Bob Marley and the Wailers, for blasting loud sirens and flashing bright lights upon approach. Prior to 2012, ordinary Zimbabweans considered the motorcade to primarily be an annoyance, though three accidents occurring in short succession in 2012 made it more of a source of active danger.
Nelson Mandela criticized the motorcade. In a television interview, he recounted explaining to his grandchild why he (Mandela) did not have a motorcade: "Oh, no, we don't do that in South Africa, we leave that kind of thing to Mr. Mugabe."
Mugabe was deposed in a November 2017 coup d'etat. Preparing to succeed Mugabe, new leader Emmerson Mnangagwa paraded around Harare in a motorcade of similar size to Mugabe's.