President John Magufuli of Tanzania has died from heart complications, according to reports coming from the East African country.
The Vice president of the country Samia Suluhu Hassan in a statewide broadcast on Wednesday, Hassan broke the tragic news and said there would be 14 days of national mourning while flags would fly at half-mast.
‘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,‘ Hassan said.
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He was last seen in public weeks ago, forcing the opposition to demand an update on his whereabouts.
The deceased, aged 61, passed on weeks after there were speculations that he had contracted coronavirus.
Magufuli had described COVID as a ruse and he refused to take measures to protect the citizens.
When he was alive, he had questioned the efficacy of COVID vaccines and said his government had no plan to procure any shots for his country.
‘We Tanzanians have not locked ourselves down, and I don’t expect to announce even a single day that we are implementing a lockdown because our God is still alive, and he will continue protecting us Tanzanians,’ the late president once told a crowd.
‘But we shall also continue taking precautions, including steaming. You steam, at the same time pray to God, and going on with your daily activities so that you eat well and your body builds immunity against the coronavirus.’
He grew up in a village in the north-western Chato district along the shore of Lake Victoria.
He was elected a member of parliament in 1995 and that same year appointed deputy minister of works, receiving the title of a minister in 2000. In 2010, he gained popularity after he was appointed Tanzania’s minister for works and transportation for the second time. His bullish leadership style and fight against graft in the road construction industry was endearing for Tanzanians, who later nicknamed him “the bulldozer.”
While campaigning for his country’s highest office, he had promised to improve the condition of the poor, having experienced poverty.
‘Our home was grass thatched, and like many boys, I was assigned to herd cattle, as well as selling milk and fish to support my family. I know what it means to be poor. I will strive to help improve people’s welfare.‘
The late Magufuli was declared president on his 56th birthday in October 2015.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK