TANZANIA : Tanzania’s President John Magufuli has died at a hospital in Dar es Salaam, the country’s vice president announced in a televised address on Wednesday. He was 61.
“President John Magufuli died of a heart ailment that he has battled for over 10 years,” Samia Suluhu Hassan said. She added that the president had been receiving treatment at Mzena hospital since Sunday, and announced 14 days of national mourning.
Hassan is now the acting president of Tanzania. While a date for her swearing-in has not yet been announced, she will be Tanzania’s first female president.
Magufuli, who usually made weekly public appearances at Sunday church services, had not been seen since February 27, fueling speculation that he was ill and was being treated abroad.
The country’s Prime Minister dispelled rumors about his health last week after days of speculation that the President was ill with Covid-19.
Magufuli was one of Africa’s most prominent Covid skeptics.
