HARARE – Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Senegal Trudy Stevenson has been found dead at her residence in Dakar.

Her official chauffeur reported for work on Friday morning to find her lifeless body.

The former Harare North MP (MDC) would have turned 74 on September 16.

A spokesman for Zimbabwe’s Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed her death, but said a statement would be issued after they had made contact with her next of kin.

A source told ZimLive.com that Stevenson, who was active on Twitter and looked forward to the Constitutional Court judgment on a petition brought by MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa, was last seen taking a swim late afternoon on Thursday.

By Friday morning, she was dead. Uneaten food was found on a table.

In her final post on Twitter at 7.30PM on Thursday, she said: “Meanwhile, as #Zimbabwe ambassador here in Dakar, I have signed two Books of Condolence for #KofiAnnanRIP , #UN & #Ghana . I made the point that one of his last official visits was to #Zimbabwe as Chairperson of @thelders, urging peace and promising that they would not abandon us.”

Stevenson was appointed Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Senegal in 2009 when the MDC formed a unity government with then President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party.