Prominent Mutare businessman Godfrey Kombo has died aged 64.
Family spokesperson Callistus Kombo said the businessman succumbed to hypertension on Tuesday.
"Our father died because of blood pressure complications,his body will lie in state at our home today before a funeral service at Sakubva United Baptist Church,"he said.
Manicaland Provincial Affairs minister Misheck Mugadza has described Kombo as an irreplaceable pillar.
"I have worked with the late Godfrey Kombo,he was a successful businessman and it's sad we have lost such a pillar," he said.
Some top Zanu PF officials in Manicaland province are pushing for him to be declared provincial hero.
Kombo started his journey by working as a customs officer at Forbes Border Post in Mutare which helped him sharpen his business skills.
He then embarked into business starting with several grocery shops in Chimanimani.
- Mutare businessman Kombo dies
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He later ventured into the hardware retail sector running Buffalo Hardware shops.
He also owned a medium-scale mine in Odzi and was elected chairperson of the Manicaland Miners Association.
Being a community man , Kombo also founded the now-defunct Division One football club Mutare United which almost gained Premiership promotion some few years back, and was eventually appointed Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) Manicaland chairperson.
He managed to scoop several bussiness awards including businessman of the year in 2006.
Kombo will be buried at his rural home in Chimanimani district on a date yet to be confirmed this week.
He is survived by his wife Patricia Kombo ,four sons and six grand children.
Mourners are gathered at Plot J Apheaton Road Christmas Pass in Mutare.
Additional reporting by Rodrigo Campos in New York and Dawit Endeshaw in Addis Ababa; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Andrew Heavens
