Dar es Salaam, 17 March, 2021 / 7:24 pm (ACI Africa).
Tanzania’s President John Pombe Magufuli whose absence from the public eye had raised questions and speculations is dead, the government announced Wednesday, March 17.
“It is with deep regret that I inform you that today, on the 17th of March, 2021 at 6 p.m., we lost our brave leader, the President of the Republic of Tanzania, John Pombe Magufuli,” the Vice President of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan announced on State Television.
She added “We have lost our courageous leader who died from heart illness at Mzena hospital in Dar es Salaam where he was getting treatment.”
The Vice President further declared 14 days of national mourning in honor of the 61-year-old late Head of state, adding that flags in the East African nation would fly at half mast.
The late Magufuli had last been seen at a State House event in Dar es Salaam on February 27, sparking widespread questions and speculations about his health situation and whereabouts, with Tanzania’s opposition leader, Tundu Lissu, tweeting that the President had contracted COVID-19 and was hospitalized in neighboring Kenya.