ZIMBABWE National Army (ZNA) spokesperson Colonel Overson Mugwisi has died from Covid-19. He becomes the second top government official to succumb under the disease.

A family member of the Mugwisi family who confirmed his death on condition of anonymity said the decorated soldier died in the wee hours of Friday.

He has been on sick leave for about three months.

The family source said Mugwisi died at an Army hospital at the Josiah Magama Tongogara Barracks, formerly KGV1 Barracks in Harare where he was rushed to overnight after the family failed to have him admitted at both private and public hospitals.

“He has not been well for some time now but his condition deteriorated severely last night. His close family went from one hospital after another trying to get him admitted without success. They finally took him to a military hospital at KGV1. Unfortunately, he passed on in the morning,” a family source said.

Contacted for a comment deputy Army spokesperson, Alphios Makotore referred all the questions to the ZNA national headquarters in Harare, where the landline number went unanswered.