Lopes Tembe Ndelana, 88, a former combatant and one of the founders of UDENAMO and later of Frelimo, has died.

After independence, he had a career as a diplomat and ambassador for Mozambique in several countries.

Lopes Tembe was one of the living libraries and repository of the history of the national liberation struggle. He was one of the young people who created Udenamo, one of the three movements that came together on June 25, 1962 to create Frelimo.

The Frelimo party announced the death and said that the veteran had fallen ill and was in Maputo Central Hospital, the statement said.

Lopes Tembe took part in the whole process that culminated in the creation of Frelimo and even in all the previous movements that began with the creation of UDENAMO.

During his lifetime, Tembe wrote a memoir entitled From UDENAMO to FRELIMO and Mozambican diplomacy.