Zimbabwe Army Commander Lt-Gen Chimonyo succumbs to cancer
The Commander of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA), Lieutenant-General Edzai Chimonyo, has died. According to Presidential spokesperson George Charamba, Chimonyo succumbed to cancer early this morning.
However, in the wake of his death, the government has since issued out a press statement in regards to his death.
“Devastated to announce the passing on of General Chimonyo early this morning after a long fight against cancer. go well freedom fighter, Commander and Ambassador,” he wrote.
Chimonyo, like all the current crop of military generals in Zimbabwe, is a former fighter in the country’s 1970’s war of independence. Lieutenant General Edzayi Chimonyo, who was appointed to the position after the coup, had been battling cancer, George Charamba, the presidential spokesman wrote on Twitter.
The late General has held a number of appointments between 1980 and 2008 in various brigades, Army and Defence Headquarters before his transfer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where he was appointed ambassador to Tanzania until December 2017.
Lt Gen Chimonyo assumed his current position on December 18, 2017, when he took over from General Philip Valerio Sibanda, who was promoted to be the Commander Defence Forces.
More to follow…