NUST lecturer dies of suspected case of Covid-19

By Dumisani Nyoni

National University of Science and Technology (NUST) senior lecturer, Dr Abraham Babs Nyoni has died in a suspected case of Covid-19, CITE has established.

Dr Nyoni, who was a senior lecturer in the department of textile technology, died in Bulawayo on Saturday afternoon.

NUST director of communications and marketing Thabani Mpofu confirmed the passing away of Dr Nyoni but declined to reveal his cause of death.

“I can confirm that Dr Nyoni is late but it’s not for me to comment on the cause of his death. He passed away here in Bulawayo today (Saturday). You can phone the Bulawayo Provincial Medical Director. He is the one who can give you more details,” Mpofu said.

Contacted for comment, Acting Bulawayo Provincial Medical Director Dr Welcome Mlilo said he had not yet received the news about the passing on of Dr Nyoni.

Sources, however, insisted that Dr Nyoni could have succumbed to Covid-19 as he had its symptoms.

Mpofu said Dr Nyoni has been with NUST for some time and he was once seconded to Gwanda State University where he has been working there as a dean.

“As you are aware, Gwanda State University was being incubated by NUST, so there were some staff members who were seconded there and Dr Nyoni was one of them. We have lost an expert in textile and a dedicated educationist. He has been with us for some time and very instrumental in that department of Textile Engineering.”

“So it’s a loss to us as a university and it’s so sad that his passing away just comes soon after we had lost our university proctor Professor Shadreck Maqethuka Dube who also had contributed immensely to the development of the university.”

“So as a university we are really mourning the loss of these experts who by the way they are very rare to find and very rare to replace. So it’s going to be very difficult for us to replace Dr Nyoni. We are with the family and the nation in terms of mourning his passing on,” he said.

Dr Nyoni, according to LinkedIn is a holder of Master’s Degree as well as Doctor of Philosophy in Textile Sciences and Engineering from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom.

Covid-19, which broke out in China in December last year, has killed more than 265 people in Zimbabwe, with Bulawayo contributing a total number of 72 people to this figure.

Bulawayo is currently a Covid-19 hotspot with 198 active cases.