Edgar Zivanai Tekere, a founding member of the Zimbabwe African National Union (Zanu) and one of the luminaries of Zimbabwe's war of liberation,
has died, reports NewsDay from Harare.

Before his rising popularity as a rival to Robert Mugabe resulted in theirestrangement, Tekere served in government, organising his party during
the Lancaster House talks which resulted in Zimbabwe's independence in 1980.

During April this year, Tekere reportedly said that Zimbabwe had fallen into a dictatorship under President Robert Mugabe.

"What is happening is definitely not what we fought for. Things have gone haywire; this is just bad. When I look at what is happening, I just cry in my heart that my party is disintegrating and there is nothing I can do," Tekere reportedly told the Daily News newspaper.

He died at the Murambi Clinic in Mutare on Tuesday. He was said to be battling cancer. It is reported that his wife Ruvimbo and son, Farai
Zachariah, were by his bedside when he died.

The 74-year-old is credited with personally inviting Bob Marley to perform at Rufaro Stadium for the official Independence Celebration in April 1980.