"The former Zimbabwe-Rhodesia prime minister passed away at his Borrowdale home yesterday (Thursday) afternoon," The Herald newspaper said of the head of an interim government before independence from Britain.
He was 85 years old.
"It is understood that the retired bishop of the United Methodist Church died after receiving news that his younger brother had died in America," the paper said.
A former schoolteacher, Muzorewa was a lay preacher in the northeastern Mutoko district before he went to theological college.
He was secretary of the Students' Christian Movement which was renowned for its opposition to minority white rule.
In 1968, Muzorewa was consecrated bishop of Rhodesia for the United Methodist and three years later formed the African National Council (ANC) opening negotiations with the Rhodesian regime of Ian Smith.
The two liberation movements, Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) and Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU), went along with Muzorewa's party for a while until they fell out over Muzorewa's opposition to the liberation war.
The nationalists' leaders also became skeptical of Muzorewa's party as it appeared to enjoy cosy relations with Smith's regime.
In 1978 Muzorewa signed an agreement with Smith, founding nationalist Ndabaningi Sithole and Chief Jeremiah Chirau to form a transitional government which tinkered with the constitution and paved the way for elections.
The settlement was rejected by the liberation movement led by Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo and castigated as a "sellout", a tag with which Muzorewa became synonymous.
Muzorewa won the general elections in April 1979 but his Zimbabwe-Rhodesia did not get international recognition after the United Nations declared the "internal settlement" illegal.
The liberation war continued and soon after Mugabe came to power in 1980, Muzorewa was arrested on charges of plotting against the new government.
He became one of Mugabe's strongest opponents contesting but losing in three general elections.
In 1990 he joined forces with other opposition parties to challenge Mugabe under the banner of United Parties but lost the polls.
Muzorewa retired from active politics in 2001 but made a brief comeback in 2007 announcing that many people had approached him asking that he stand as presidential candidate in the 2008 polls.
AFP
