Deported Journalist Dies

MQONDISI DUBE
Staff Writer | Monday October 12, 2009 00:00

A former Mirror and Ngami Times senior reporter and news editor respectively, Mukumbira passed away in Namibia last Sunday after a short illness. Namibian press reports said Mukumbira's body was repatriated to Zimbabwe on Tuesday where he was buried.Mukumbira worked for Namibia's Economist as a sub-editor.

The late Mukumbira hogged the limelight when he was declared a PI and deported to Zimbabwe under unclear circumstances. Although no reason was advanced for hisdeportation, it is suspected that Mukumbira wrote an article about the contentious Basarwa and CKGR relocation for an online publication.

His deportation was condemned by opposition parties and press freedom advocates. The government's decision to declare Mukumbira a PI followed hard on the heels of Professor Kenneth Good's well-publicised deportation.Mukumbira, 38, is survived by his wife and daughter.