Morgan Tsvangirai RIP

But for a massive amount of vote-rigging and intimidation Morgan Tsvangirai, the veteran Zimbabwe opposition leader who died today of colon cancer at the age of 65, would have been elected president of his country in 2008.

A former miner who had risen to be general secretary of Zimbabwe's trade unions, he broke with Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF to oppose Mugabe's dictatorial and corrupt regime and campaigned in the face of enormous cruelty and persecution for the peaceful and democratic transfer of power.

He was Prime Minister for four years as part of a power-sharing coalition from 2009 to 2013

I am sorry that his death means that he will not be able to take part in the post-Mugabe development of politics in his country, to which he would have had a lot to offer, but I'm glad that at least he lived to see Robert Mugabe removed from power. 

Morgan Tsvangirai was a very brave man who made huge sacrifices for what he believed in and I am convinced his struggle helped to create the conditions in which Mugabe could be sacked by the army and his own party. Tsvangirai would much rather have seen Mugabe removed at the ballot box and I hope his legacy will be to bring nearer the day when governments in Zimbabwe are changed peacefully through popular votes rather than force.

 Rest in Peace.

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