HARARE, March 27 (AGCNewsNet) – Zimbabwe is mourning the loss of veteran journalist and human rights activist Geoffrey Nyarota, who passed away on Saturday at the age of 74 after battling colon cancer.

Nyarota was renowned for his fearless journalism, particularly his exposés on government corruption. As editor of The Chronicle in the late 1980s, he uncovered a major vehicle scandal involving top government officials, which led to the resignation of five ministers. However, his investigative work cost him his job.

In 1999, he co-founded The Daily News, Zimbabwe’s most popular independent newspaper, which frequently challenged state narratives. Under his leadership, the publication gained a reputation for exposing corruption and amplifying dissenting voices. The paper was eventually shut down in 2003 after years of government pressure, arrests of its journalists, and a bombing of its printing press.

Nyarota later moved to the U.S. as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, where he continued his work through The Zimbabwe Times, an online publication. He returned to Zimbabwe in 2014 to chair a government-backed inquiry into media ethics.

Tributes from media professionals have hailed him as a fearless journalist dedicated to truth and press freedom. The Media Institute of Southern Africa described him as someone who “slept, dreamt, breathed, and lived journalism.”

He received several international awards, including the Committee to Protect Journalists’ International Press Freedom Award in 2001.

Nyarota is survived by his wife, Ursula, and three children. His burial was scheduled for Wednesday.

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