Prominent opposition leader, Linda Masarira, has died at the age of 43.
Masarira, who led the small Labour Economists and African Democrats (LEAD) opposition party, died in Harare early on Sunday.
Information permanent secretary Nick Mangwana paid his tributes saying: “It is with a heavy heart that I mark the passing on of Ms. Linda Masarira – a loss that leaves us all diminished. May she find eternal peace. This image captures our final encounter, around a #CAB3 discussion in Bulawayo. Linda never hesitated to lend her voice to the nation’s most pressing conversations. In her absence, we are left much poorer.”
Masarira’s friend Abigale Mupambi told ZimLive: “It is with deep sorrow and a heavy heart to announce the passing on of a close friend and associate, a comrade to many, LEAD president Linda Tsungirirai Masarira, today, Sunday, 24 May 2026,” Masarira had been battling poor health for some time, but recently appeared to be on the mend.”
“I was with her on Friday and we spent several hours together at my office. She was fine and there was no sign that something like this would happen.”
Masarira entered politics first as a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) then led by Tendai Biti, before serving as spokesperson for the Thokozani Khupe-led Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T).
She founded LEAD in April 2019. In 2023, she failed to run for president after the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission raised nomination fees from $1,000 to $20,000.
