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Zanu PF deputy chief whip Mguni dies

Politics
ZANU PF deputy Chief Whip and Mangwe MP Obedingwa Mguni has died following a long battle with diabetes.

ZANU PF deputy Chief Whip and Mangwe MP Obedingwa Mguni has died following a long battle with diabetes.

By Staff Reporter

The former Home Affairs deputy minister died on Tuesday late afternoon at Avenues Clinic in Harare, where he was rushed after falling ill after a parliamentary session. He was 56.

Speaker of Parliament Jacob Mudenda yesterday confirmed Mguni’s death.

“It is a sad loss. His family has been officially advised by Parliament about his death. We are going to give a condolence message later as Parliament. As of now, it is too early. Let us wait for the family to settle with the news and follow due process,” Mudenda said.

Bulilima West legislator Dingimuzi Phuti said in Mguni’s death, he had lost a mentor.

“It’s so painful. I can’t come to terms with that reality. He was my compass in terms of constituency and parliamentary work, both as a co-MP and my chief whip on parliamentary business in the party,” Phuti said. Zanu PF spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo, in his condolence message, said Mguni’s sudden death had robbed the party of a principled man.

“Cde Mguni died on duty as he had attended Parliament yesterday and interacted with his colleagues in the usual jovial positive and constructive mannerism,” Khaya Moyo said.

“He was a committed cadre of the revolution, principled, disciplined, down to earth and a man of the people … In wishing his wife and family strength and staying power, may his soul rest in eternal peace.”

Mguni was born on December 1, 1962 and went to Matole and Silima primary schools in Empandeni, Plumtree, before going to Matopo and Asngas in South Africa for his secondary education.

He went on to acquire a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics and Financial Management at Witwatersrand University, among other qualifications.

Mguni has been a Member of Parliament since 2013 and was also Zanu PF’s provincial treasurer, apart from being provincial war veterans chairperson for Matabeleland South. He was also the chairperson of Democratisation, Good Governance and Human Rights in the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) Parliament.

Mguni took part in the liberation struggle between 1975 and 1980.

From Empandeni, he went to Zambia where he attended Mkushi College before he went to Libya for guerrilla training.

In 1980, Mguni was demobilised. He then joined the teaching profession, leaving it in 1986 before going to South Africa where he joined the South African government. He is survived by wife Hlalani and three children, Doris, Bongani and Simphiwe.