Zimbabwe’s first minister of Agriculture, Dennis Norman, died in Oxfordshire in December last year, NewsDay has learnt.

Norman, who was part of the initiation of the Beira Corridor and subsequent establishment of the Feruka oil pipeline died on December 20 after a long battle against cancer of the oesophagus.

He was part of the then Prime Minister Robert Mugabe’s inaugural cabinet reportedly at the suggestion of the late Lord Soames. He was later appointed Minister of Transport. After serving Zimbabwe in various portfolios, Denis Norman and his wife, June, returned to England.