The President of Tanzania, John Magufuli has died at the age of 61, according to the country’s vice-president, Samia Suluhu Hassan.
He died on Wednesday, March 17, 2021 from heart complications at a hospital in Dar es Salaam.
Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan, announced the death on state television.
“It is with great regret that I inform you that today, March 17, 2021, at 6 p.m., we have lost our courageous leader, the President of Tanzania, John Pombe Magufuli,” said Samia Suluhu Hassan.
Mr Magufuli, nicknamed the “Bulldozer” it should be noted has not been seen in public for more than two weeks, and rumours have been circulating about his health.
Opposition politicians said earlier this week that he had contracted Covid-19.
Tundu Lissu, in exile in Belgium, like others began to question the president’s absence, saying he had a severe form of Covid-19, aggravated by health problems.
In February, Tanzania, which claimed to be “liberated” from Covid-19 thanks to prayers, experienced a wave of deaths, officially attributed to pneumonia. Leading figures, including the vice-president of the Zanzibar Archipelago, Seif Sharif Hamad, have been affected.
John Magufuli last appeared in public on February 27.
Mr Magufuli was declared president in October 2015.
It was on his 56th Birthday.
14 days of national mourning with flags to fly at half mast have been declared in the country by the vice president.
This is a developing story.
