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Joseph Madzimure Senior Reporter

Former Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) president Mr Lovemore Matombo has died.

He was 75.

The veteran unionist passed away on Monday at Suburban Medical Centre in Harare.

Family spokesperson Ms Juliana Matombo described the death of her brother, who complained of chest pains, as a great loss.

“We have lost a loving brother and a father figure to the family.

“He was the first born in a family of seven. His wife Martha passed away in 2017,” she said.

“He had been unwell for some time and was in and out of hospital because of chest pains.”

He will be buried at his rural home in Newengo Village in Mutasa, Manicaland, today. Mr Matombo joined ZCTU in 1985 as one of the elected vice presidents at a congress held at the University of Zimbabwe.

He was then elected president of the Posts and Telecommunications Union of Zimbabwe, before being elected president of ZCTU in 2001 at the Masvingo congress, where he took over from the late Mr Gibson Sibanda, who by then had joined active politics as MDC vice president.

Mr Matombo was also a board member of the Labour Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe (LEDRIZ) and served in the Telecommunications International Trade Secretariat.

He also led the ZCTU Committee that sat in the Tripartite Negotiating Forum (TNF) until his retirement in 2011.

He participated in International Labour Organisation (ILO) conferences as a lead delegate of the ZCTU.

Mr Matombo is survived by two children, Tabeth and Fregie and six grandchildren.