Tanzanian President, John Magufuli, who was a vocal COVID-19 sceptic, has passed away at age 61.
The country’s vice president announced his passing after weeks of uncertainty over his health and whereabouts.
In a televised address to the nation late on Wednesday, Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan said the president had died of a “heart condition”, which he had suffered for 10 years at a hospital in Dar-Es-Salaam.
Magufuli had first been briefly admitted to the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute on March 6, but was subsequently discharged, Hassan said on state television. But he was rushed to hospital again on March 14 after feeling unwell.
Opposition leader Zitto Kabwe spoke to Hassans shortly after the announcement to offer condolences for Magufuli’s death.
“The nation will remember him for his contribution to the development of our country,” Kabwe said in a statement published on Twitter.
According to Tanzania’s Constitution, Hassan, 61, should assume the presidency for the remainder of the five-year term that Magufuli began serving last year after winning a second term.
Magufuli had last appeared in public on February 27 and top government officials had denied that he was in ill health, even as speculation swirled online that he was sick and possibly incapacitated from the disease.
