(3 minutes read)
· Tanzania’s President John Pombe Magufuli (61) is no more. This was announced by Tanzania vice-president Samia Suluhu Hassan in a televised news bulletin
· Magufuli, it is reported, had died of heart complications
· According to Tanzania’s constitution, Ms Hassan will be sworn in as the new president and should serve the remainder of Magufuli’s five-year team which he began last year
Tanzania’s President John Pombe Magufuli (61) is no more. This was announced by Tanzania vice-president Samia Suluhu Hassan in a televised news bulletin. Magufuli, it is reported, had died of heart complications.
Hassan said that Magufuli was hospitalized on March 6 at the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute. As reported by www.trendsnafrica.com there was speculation about the whereabouts of the deceased president. There were reports that he had been hospitalized for Covid-19.
Magufuli had not been seen in public for 18 days and rumors had spread that he was critically ill. Several people were arrested as the government tried to contain the rumors. The opposition leader from the Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT Wazalendo) issued a statement demanding Magufuli’s whereabouts and called for release of all citizens who have been arrested for circulating rumors about the president’s health. Social media was particularly active telling that the president may have contracted coronavirus and been airlifted to a Kenyan hospital for treatment then flown to India a day later.
According to Tanzania’s constitution, Ms Hassan will be sworn in as the new president and should serve the remainder of Magufuli’s five-year team which he began last year.
Magufuli is the son of a peasant farmer who became Tanzania’s president in 2015. He was elected for a second term in 2020 amid opposition accusations of fraud and intimidation. Before he became president he acquired the nickname “the bulldozer” for driving a program to build roads as minister for works, and later was hailed for his anti-corruption stance and his distinct dislike for wasting money.
Magufuli was also accused of taking stern stands against dissent. His idiosyncratic handling of Covid-19 also attracted a fair amount of international criticism. He wanted people to get into the churches and mosques to pray, calling the pandemic a creation of the devil. In June 2020, when he declared the country “Covid-19 free”, the president, along with other top government officials, mocked the efficacy of masks, doubted if testing worked, and teased neighboring countries which imposed health measures to curb the virus.
