Online Reporter
Mukudzei Chingwere
AMBASSADOR Stuart Comberbach has died, Acting President Dr Constantino Chiwenga has announced.
Amb Comberbach succumbed to cancer-related complications in the UK on Thursday.
He was 72.
Acting President Chiwenga expressed sorrow over the loss of a distinguished diplomat and public servant.
Amb Comberbach held several diplomatic assignments and served in various senior Government positions in a career spanning close to five decades.
“During his five decades of professional service to the Government, Ambassador Comberbach demonstrated a rare and unwavering commitment to duty,” said Acting President Chiwenga.
“His patriotism was never in question, and he believed that our differences in race, colour and creed only served to enrich our shared humanity as one family in a unified Zimbabwe.
“On behalf of His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Cde Dr Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, and the First Family, the Government and ZANU PF party, the entire nation, and on my own behalf, I wish to express my sincere condolences to Mrs Comberbach and the entire family following the loss of their loved one.
“May they take comfort from the knowledge that their loss is shared by the whole nation in whose service he contributed immensely.”
Ambassador Comberbach served as Ambassador to Italy, Japan and South Korea, and, most recently, as Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva.
He was a respected voice in international diplomacy, advocating for Zimbabwe’s values and aspirations.
During his career, Ambassador Comberbach served in various capacities, among them Special Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade from 2018 to 2021, Secretary of the Corporate Governance Unit in the Office of the President and Cabinet from 2014 to 2018.
He also served as Ambassador to Japan and to the Republic of Korea (2003-2014); Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry and International Trade (2000-2003); Director of the Special Information Unit, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1999-2000); Ambassador to Italy and Permanent Representative to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) (1994-1999).
He was also head of the Zimbabwe Trade Mission and later the Zimbabwe Representative Office in Johannesburg, South Africa (1987-1994); Head of the Information and Research Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1982-1987); Multilateral Affairs Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1980-1982).
