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Controversial Tanzanian President John Magufuli has died at age 61, the country’s vice president confirmed on Wednesday, more than two weeks after he was last seen in public.
Samia Suluhu Hassan said in a speech on state television that Magufuli died of heart complications at a hospital in Dar es Salaam, some 270 miles (434 kilometers) east of the capital Dodoma.
“It is with deep regret that I inform you that today … we lost our brave leader, the President of the Republic of Tanzania, John Pombe Magufuli,” added Ms. Hassan.
There had been much speculation in East Africa and among opposition politicians in Tanzania that Magufuli, a Covid skeptic, had died from the disease, although this has not been confirmed.
Magufuli was last seen in public at an event in Dar es Salaam on February 27 by an opposition leader who urged the government to inform the public about the president’s alleged condition, saying that citizens had the right to know his health. .
Some Tanzanians told Reuters on condition of anonymity that fear and anxiety had spread throughout the country due to the unknown status of the president.
Over the weekend, the police arrested four people for allegedly spreading false information about the disease to political leaders.
Nicknamed “The Bulldozer,” Magufuli was a former chemistry professor from the village of Chato in northwestern Tanzania, who rose rapidly up the political ladder after winning a seat in parliament in 1995.
Elected president in 2015, Western countries and opposition parties had accused him of eroding democracy, which he denied.
Magufuli was elected to a second term in 2020 amid accusations of fraud and intimidation from the opposition.
He was an active skeptic of Covid and denounced the measures to stop the spread of the virus and labeled the vaccines as a Western conspiracy.
Hassan said there would be 14 days of national mourning and that the flags would be flown at half mast to mark Magufuli’s death.
Additional agency reports
