Morgan Tsvangirai has DIED. The former Zimbabwean Prime Minister who fought Robert Mugabe’s regime for many years, died on Wednesday after battling against cancer, a party official said.
“It is sad for me to announce that we have lost our icon and fighter for democracy,” Elias Mudzuri, one of the vice-presidents of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, said on Twitter.
Tsvangirai’s death was confirmed to AFP by another senior party member. He was 65.
As you are aware that our MDC T President, Dr Morgan Richard Tsvangirai has not been feeling well for some time, it is sad for me to announce that we have lost our icon and fighter for democracy. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, the party and the nation at this hour.
— Elias Mudzuri (@EngMudzuri) February 14, 2018
Tsvangirai was a veteran opposition leader, for nearly two decades the most credible threat to the long rule of former President Robert Mugabe. He first ran for president in 2002, before shocking the political establishment by winning the first round of the controversial 2008 election. The violence that followed this vote led to the creation of a government of national unity, in which Tsvangirai served as Prime Minister.