Renowned Zimbabwe opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai has reportedly died in a South African hospital. The former Prime Minister, 65 died from colon cancer. The Vice President of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Elias Mudzuri who announced his death on Wednesday evening, said "he died this evening. The family communicated this to me"
According to BBC, the former Prime Minister's political career was marked by a long political struggle against the ousted former President, Robert Mugabe. Mr Tsvangirai founded the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) in 2000, and repeatedly challenged Mr Mugabe during the ex-president's long grip on power.
In the 2008 election, Mr Tsvangirai gained the most votes in the first round but not enough to win outright. According to BBC, before the second round of voting, Mr Mugabe's security forces carried out a campaign of violence against opposition supporters forcing Mr Tsvangirai to withdraw.
Mr Mugabe was declared the winner, but an international outcry over allegations of violence and vote-rigging led to a power sharing agreement in which Mr Tsvangirai would serve as prime minister. Mr Tsvangirai ran against Mr Mugabe again in 2013 but lost by a landslide.
The MDC is said to be divided over who should lead it into elections later this year against the governing Zanu-PF party, led by Mr Mugabe's successor, Emmerson Mnangagwa.
