The end of an era; Tanzania’s President John Pombe Magufuli is dead
Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli is dead.
Magufuli’s death was announced on Wednesday night by Tanzanian Vice President Samia Hassan Suluhu. She said Magufuli succumbed to a heart disease at Mzena State Hospital in Dar es Salaam. He was aged 61 years.
The Vice President, in a televised address, said Magufuli was taken ill on March 6 and rushed to Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute in Tanzania before he was transferred to Mzena hospital where he was admitted until his demise.
Ms. Hassan announced that Tanzania would get into a 14-day period of mourning ahead of burial plans. During the mourning period, all flags in Tanzania will fly at half-mast.
Magufuli, was last seen in public on February 27, 2021 looking his normal self as he swore in a new chief secretary at state house in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
This comes after weeks of speculation on his whereabouts with the suspicion that he had been hospitalised for Covid-19.
Magufuli was born in Chato, Geita region on October 29, 1959. He was married to Janeth Magufuli with whom they have five children.
President Maghufuli had previously served as a deputy minister and minister in previous administrations in Tanzania before becoming the president.
President Joseph Pombe Magufuli was serving his second term of his Presidency which was to run until 2025 after controversially winning the Presidential election in 2020 that marked with chaos forcing his main challenger Tundu Lissu to look for asylum in Belgium.
