Morgan Tsvangirai

Morgan Tsvangirai
Tsvangirai in 2009
2nd Prime Minister of Zimbabwe
In office 11 February 2009 – 11 September 2013
President	Robert Mugabe
Deputy	Thokozani Khuphe Arthur Mutambara
Preceded by	Robert Mugabe (1987)
Succeeded by	Office abolished
President of the Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai Movement for Democratic Change (1999–2005)
In office 30 September 1999 – 14 February 2018
Preceded by	Gibson Sibanda
Succeeded by	Nelson Chamisa
Leader of the Opposition
In office 30 September 1999 – 14 February 2018
President	Robert Mugabe Emmerson Mnangagwa
Preceded by	Abel Muzorewa
Succeeded by	Nelson Chamisa
General Secretary of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions
In office 10 May 1987 – 30 September 1999
Preceded by	Masotsha Ndhlovu
Succeeded by	Wellington Chibebe
Personal details
Born	Morgan Richard Tsvangirai (1952-03-10)10 March 1952 Gutu, Southern Rhodesia
Died	14 February 2018(2018-02-14) (aged 65) Johannesburg, South Africa
Cause of death	Colorectal cancer
Political party	Zimbabwe African National Union (before 1987) Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (1987–1999) Movement for Democratic Change (1999–2005) Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (2005–2018)
Spouses	Susan Mhundwa ​ ​ (m. 1978; died 2009)​ Elizabeth Macheka ​ (m. 2011)​
Children	9
Signature
Website	Government website Party website

Morgan Richard Tsvangirai (/ˈtʃæŋɡɪraɪ/; Shona pronunciation: [ts͎a.ᵑɡi.ra.i];^{[need tone]} 10 March 1952 – 14 February 2018) was a Zimbabwean politician who was Prime Minister of Zimbabwe from 2009 to 2013.^[1] He was president of the Movement for Democratic Change, and later the Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC–T), and a key figure in the opposition to former president Robert Mugabe.

Tsvangirai was the MDC candidate in the controversial 2002 Zimbawean presidential election, losing to Mugabe. He later contested the first round of the 2008 Zimbawean presidential election as the MDC-T candidate, taking 47.8% of the vote according to official results, placing him ahead of Mugabe, who received 43.2%. Tsvangirai claimed to have won a majority and said that the results could have been altered in the month between the election and the reporting of official results.^[2] Tsvangirai initially planned to run in the second round against Mugabe, but withdrew shortly before it was held, arguing that the election would not be free and fair due to widespread violence and intimidation by government supporters that led to the deaths of 200 people.

Tsvangirai sustained non-life-threatening injuries in a car crash on 6 March 2009 when heading towards his rural home in Buhera. His first wife, Susan Tsvangirai, was killed in the head-on collision.^[3] As the 2017 Zimbabwean coup d'état occurred, Tsvangirai asked Mugabe to step down.^[4][5] He hoped that an all-inclusive stakeholders' meeting to chart the country's future and an internationally supervised process for the forthcoming elections would create a process that would take the country towards a legitimate regime.^[6][7] On 14 February 2018, Tsvangirai died at the age of 65 after reportedly suffering from colorectal cancer.^[8]