HARARE, Zimbabwe – The party of Zimbabwe’s president says his sister Sabina Mugabe — a former lawmaker and one of his closest allies — died after a long battle with illness. She was 76.
The death Thursday of Robert Mugabe’s most trusted family confidante and associate would be a severe blow to the ascetic 86-year-old president, who is often seen as having few close friends.
ZANU-PF party spokesman Rugare Gumbo said Sabina Mugabe will be buried at Heroes Acre, a national shrine for loyalist politicians and fallen guerrillas from the liberation war that ended white rule in Zimbabwe in 1980.
She retired from Parliament in 2008 after a lifetime in politics alongside Mugabe.
