Zimbabwe’s agriculture minister dies from coronavirus

Zimbabwe’s agriculture minister Perrance Shiri died from the COVID-19 infection, becoming the first senior government official to succumb to the pandemic, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said on Thursday.

Shiri, a retired general who helped plot a coup that ousted Robert Mugabe in 2017, died on Wednesday.

The late liberation war veteran was declared a national hero and will be buried on Friday during a closed ceremony.

Shiri’s driver had succumbed to COVID-19 earlier.

“Now that it is confirmed that Minister Shiri died of COVID-19, we will follow World Health Organisation regulations on how the funeral should proceed,” Mnangagwa said during a funeral wake at Shiri’s home in Harare.

Zimbabwe has recorded 2,879 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 40 deaths.

Shiri, a former liberation war fighter, rose through the ranks to become the commander of the 5th Brigade in 1983.

Fifth Brigade is known for the alleged slaughter of thousands of civilians in a series of massacres, called Gukurahundi, in the southwestern Matabeleland region.

In 1992, Shiri was appointed as the commander of the Air Force of Zimbabwe, a position he held until he was appointed minister of agriculture in November 2017.