By Tanzania’s President John Magufuli has died aged 61, the country’s vice-president announced in an address on state television.
Magufuli died on Wednesday from heart complications at a hospital in Dar es Salaam, vice-president Samia Suluhu Hassan said in an address on state television.
“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,” Vice-President Hassan said.
She said there would be 14 days of national mourning and flags would fly at half mast.
Confirmation of Magufuli’s death comes after weeks of uncertainty and wild rumours over his absence, as he was last seen in public on February 27, but Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa insisted last week that the president was “healthy and working hard”.
Opposition politicians said last week that he had contracted COVID-19, but this has not been confirmed.
Magufuli was declared president on his 56th birthday in October 2015. He was elected for a second term following a disputed poll last year.
He was one of Africa’s most prominent coronavirus sceptics, and called for prayers and herbal-infused steam therapy to counter the virus. He also refused to wear a face-mask or take lockdown measures.
