Veteran opposition activist and leader of the Labour Economists and African Democrats (LEAD), Linda Masarira, has died aged 43.
Masarira died in Harare in the early hours of Sunday, 24 May, her friend Abigale Mupambi confirmed.
“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,” said Mupambi.
She said Masarira had been in poor health for some time but had recently appeared to be recovering.
Mupambi told ZimLive she had been with Masarira on Friday, and they spent several hours together at her office. She said Masarira seemed well, and there was no sign that she would die.
The Permanent Secretary for Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Ndavaningi Mangwana, said he was saddened by Masarira’s death.
“It is with a heavy heart that I mark the passing 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 so much poorer,” wrote Mangwana on X.
Masarira entered politics with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), then led by Tendai Biti, and later served as spokesperson for the Thokozani Khupe-led Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T).
In April 2019, she founded the Labour Economists and African Democrats (LEAD). She had planned to contest the presidency in 2023 but was unable to run after the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission raised nomination fees from US$1,000 to US$20,000.
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