The untimely passing of retired Air Marshall and Minister of Agriculture, Perrance Shiri, was met with shock, disbelief, and a certain sense of schadenfreude from some sectors.
The cause of his death hasn’t been disclosed yet, however, there are several unconfirmed rumors that the minister contracted Covid-19 from his driver who also died from the virus.
Shiri was said to have gone into isolation then at some point, he ended up being admitted to hospital where he met his demise.
While Shiri was certainly a commanding figure because of his expansive liberation war credentials, top government posts, and his far-reaching influence, little was known about his personal life.
Shiri was a bit of an enigma to many, his reputation certainly preceded him but the ‘man behind the man’ was as reclusive as a spider.
1. For starters, no one has ever seen Mrs. Shiri, at least not in magazines or on television or during public appearances. Shiri always rocked up solo.
No one really knew Perrance’s marital status, most just assumed that he was a divorcee who never remarried because he was so traumatized by the war beyond repair to even consider romantic attachments.
The existence of his late son proves that at some point there was a woman in his life, where she went or what happened no one knows.
2. His real name was actually Bigboy Samson Chikerema, Perrance Shiri seems to have been his nom de guerre.
3. He was the cousin of the late president Robert Mugabe.