Zimbabwe Opposition Politician Gibson Sibanda Dies
HARARE, Zimbabwe – Former trade-unionist, Gibson Sibanda, a veteran labor activist and co-founder of Zimbabwe’s former opposition party, has died after a long battle with cancer at the age of 66, MDC-M has said.
Sibanda
In 2005, Sibanda left Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change over sharp policy differences, and joined the Mutambara-led MDC. He had been deputy leader in Tsvangirai’s party until he joined a breakaway faction and became a senator in the Harare parliament and a minister of state for the splinter group after disputed elections in 2008.
As a labor leader in the colonial era before independence in 1980, Sibanda was arrested several times for his political activism.
A widower, Sibanda is survived by six children. Funeral arrangements are still to be announced, Sibanda’s party spokesman Edwin Mushoriwa said this Tuesday.
