Zimbabwe’s Agriculture Minister Perrance Shiri succumbed to a suspected coronavirus-related illness on Wednesday.
Announcing the death, President Emmerson Mnangagwa described Shiri as a “true patriot, who devoted his life to the liberation, independence and service of his country.”
Deputy Agriculture Minister Vangelis Haritatos said Shiri died in the early hours of Wednesday.
“It is with a heavy heart that I learnt of the passing on of Air Chief Marshall (RTD) P. Shiri,” Haritatos wrote on his Facebook page.
Shiri was admitted at a Harare hospital on Tuesday amid speculation that he had tested positive for coronavirus.
Presidential spokesman George Charamba had on Tuesday confirmed the hospitalisation of Shiri, saying it was a precautionary measure after the minister’s driver had earlier died of the virus.
JN/APA