Tanzania: President John Magufuli Dies At 61
Vice President Samia Sulhu Hassan announces death of 61-year-old after weeks of uncertainty over his health and whereabouts.
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Tanzanian President Magufuli has passed the country’s vice president announced, after weeks of of uncertainty over his health and whereabouts. In a televised address to the nation late on Wednesday, Vice President Samia Suluhu said the 61 year old president John had died of a heart condition, which he has suffered for a decade, at a
hospital in Dar-Es-Salaam. John Magufuli had first been briefly admitted to the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute on March 6, but was subsequently discharged, Hassan said on state television. But he was rushed to hospital again on March 14 after feeling unwell. After the death was announced, opposition leader Zitto Kabwe said he
had also spoken to Hassan to offer condolences for John Magufuli’s death. The nation will remember him forever for his contribution to the development of our country, Zitto Kabwe said in a statement published on Twitter. According to the Tanzania’s Constitution, Vice President Hassan, 61, should assume the presidency
for the remainder of the five year term that Magufuli began serving last year after winning a second term. A vocal COVID-19 sceptic, Magufuli had last appeared in public on February 27 and top government officials had denied that he was was in ill health, even as speculation swirled online everywhere that he was sick and possibly
incapacitated from illness. President Magufuli had long downplayed the severity of the COVID-19, urging all the Tanzanians to pray, use steam inhalation and embrace the local remedies to protect all of themselves from the respiratory disease, Covid. Tanzania stopped releasing infection numbers in April 2020, weeks before Magufuli
declared the country coronavirus-free in June through divine intervention. He refused to wear a face-mask or take lockdown measures. But a week before he was last seen, Magufuli conceded the virus was still circulating, after the vice president of semi-autonomous Zanzibar was revealed to have died of COVID-19. Nicknamed the Bulldozer, Magufuli was elected in 2015 on promises to
tackle corruption and boost infrastructure development. He won a second term in a disputed poll in the last year. However, his government has been accused by rights groups of stifling democracy and cracking down on the media. Critics accused Magufuli that his dismissal of the threat from COVID-19, as well as his refusal to lock down the country, may have also contributed to many unknown deaths.
