Zimbabwe Foreign Minister Sibusiso Moyo dies of COVID-19

Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Zimbabwe's Foreign Minister Sibusiso Moyo died Wednesday of COVID-19 at a hospital in the country's capital of Harare, officials said.

Moyo, best known as the former Army general who announced a 2017 coup that removed longtime dictator Robert Mugabe, suffered from a kidney condition. He died days after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

Jefan Muswere, Zimbabwe's acting information, publicity and broadcasting services minister, confirmed the death Wednesday.

Moyo is the latest high government official to die from the coronavirus. Agriculture Minister Perrance Shiri, another of the top military commanders from the 2017 coup, died of the coronavirus in 2020.

Last weekend, Manicaland Provincial Affairs Minister Ellen Gwaradzimba died from the virus.

Since the start of 2021, Zimbabwe has recorded 52 deaths connected with the coronavirus and 783 new infections in the last day.

Moyo was born in 1960 in Mberengwa, a rural district in central Zimbabwe. He helped lead the revolt against the four-decade rule of Mugabe in 2017. It led to the election of current President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Since then, Moyo had fought to repair Zimbabwe's battered image internationally, criticizing sanctions against the country.