HARARE (ZIMBABWE) – Agriculture Minister and ex-general Perrance Shiri, who was instrumental in plotting the ouster of dictator Robert Mugabe in a coup in 2017, has died, said President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday.
The former air force general, who was at its helm for 25 years, was admitted to hospital on Tuesday and he died in the wee hours of Wednesday.
“Shiri was a true patriot, who devoted his life to the liberation, independence and service of his country,” Mnangagwa said.
According to local media reports, the minister died due to coronavirus complications. The pandemic has killed 40 and there are 2,817 confirmedx cases.
A veteran of the liberation war, Shiri was in charge of the army’s Fifth Brigade unit that indulged in the 1980s massacre of thousands of civilians in western Zimbabwe while quelling an insurgency.
The notorious massacre is known as ‘Gukurahundi’, which in Shona means the ‘early rain that washes away the chaff’. It remains a thorny issue for the people of Matabeleland region, many of whom seek justice and reparations.
The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change believe Shiri was among the security chiefs who orchestrated violence against its members when Mugabe lost the first round of the presidential election in 2008.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field