Stevenson’s relatives arrive for burial arrangements

RELATIVES of Zimbabwe Ambassador to Senegal, Ms Trudy Stevenson who died in her sleep in Dakar last Friday, were last night expected in the country to initiate her funeral and burial proceedings.

Ambassador Stevenson, who was seconded to Senegal in 2009, died aged 73.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade spokesperson, Mr Gideon Gapare said funeral arrangements would be guided by the Stevenson family.

“We are waiting for her relatives to arrive so that we start funeral arrangements. Some were in South Africa and some in the United Kingdom. We are expecting them today (yesterday),” he said.

Meanwhile, condolence messages were filtering in on social media, especially on Twitter where Ambassador Stevenson was very active.

British Ambassador to Zimbabwe Catriona Laing described the late as a brilliant diplomat. “Very saddened to hear of the untimely passing of Trudy Stevenson. She was a brilliant diplomat and very supportive of other female diplomats. Such a great loss for Zimbabwe. Sincere condolences to her family and friends,” read her tweet.

Stevenson was one of the founding members of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and joined the faction led by Professor Welshman Ncube.

She served as a Member of Parliament for Harare North from 2000 to 2008. The Ambassador later quit politics to give room for her diplomatic career.

Ambassador Stevenson was born in the United States and attended school in England from 1955 to 1962.

She obtained a BA degree from the University of Reading and a Graduate Certificate in Education from the University of Zimbabwe.

The late diplomat lived in Uganda during the 1970s before coming to Zimbabwe in 1980 where she became citizen in 1990.