Tanzania mourns the death of President John Magufuli

Flags were raised Thursday morning in the economic capital Dar es Salaam, on the first of 14 days of national mourning issued by Vice President Samia Solo Hassan, who announced the death of the head of state on Wednesday evening.

Samia Solo Hassan, 61, will assume her duties at the end of her term. She will be the first head of state for this East African country and one of the few women in power on the continent.

She said John Magufuli, at the head of the country since 2015, officially died on Wednesday of a heart disease that he had suffered for ten years.

The announcement ended nearly three weeks of speculation about his condition. The head of state is usually everywhere, and has not appeared in public since February 27.

The absence sparked rumors that he was particularly infected with COVID-19, a disease that has not stopped reducing it.

So far, the authorities have denied any deterioration in his health.

Magufuli died of auraOne of the main antagonists, Tendo Lisu, said in an interview broadcast Thursday morning on the Kenyan TV channel KTN, a nickname given to the virus in East Africa.

Fundamental justice

It is inherent justice. President Magufuli challenged the world to fight Corona […]. Challenge the science. And he refused to take the basic precautions recommended for people around the world against Corona, Remember the opponent, who confirmed that Magufuli was dead Since Wednesday of last week.

He is the second East African leader to die in controversial circumstances, after Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza, also a skeptic about COVID-19 and who has died of Heart failure Last June, after his wife was transferred to Nairobi to receive treatment for the Coronavirus.

Several countries in the region (Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda), the African Union, as well as the United Kingdom and the United States offered their condolences. Washington said We hope that Tanzania can go forward on a democratic and prosperous path.

Kenya’s president and current head of the East African Community, Uhuru Kenyatta, says Africa is losing a leader Is evidentA week of mourning was imposed in Kenya.

Tanzania, a country of 58 million people known for its natural parks and the island of Zanzibar and Kilimanjaro, has long been considered a haven of settlement in an especially volatile region.

Also known as BulldozerJohn Magufuli came to power by promising to fight endemic corruption that has ire the population.

He led major infrastructure projects, rural electricity, positively renegotiated mining contracts, and free extended education.

A woman reads a newspaper announcing the death of President Magufuli in Dar es Salaam.

Photo: afp via getty Images / –

The poor were starting to make progress, business was booming, and if you had a problem the president would listenOn Thursday morning, Kondo Nyumba, the newspaper seller in Dar es Salaam, was captured in tears.

Iron hand

But his years in power were also marked by an authoritarian transformation, which many human rights organizations denounced, with repeated attacks on the opposition and a decline in fundamental freedoms.

This is why a merchant from Dar es Salaam, introducing himself as William, would not no regret. I do not grieve for him, I mourn for the people who died under his regime, Shouted.

The opposition condemned his re-election in October with 84.39% of the vote, describing it as a Total photos.

He will be remembered more for what he destroyed […] This is for everything he started buildingThabet Jacob, a Tanzanian researcher at Roskilde University in Denmark, said in a written response to AFP.

For a year, he consistently worked to reduce the impact of the Coronavirus.

This pious Catholic had said his country was Chest With prayers. To cynicize the reliability of the tests, he said in mid-2020 that a papaya, quail, or even a goat had been infected with the COVID-19 virus, and in January he had qualified for vaccinations against the Corona virus. Dangerous.

A situation that has become difficult to maintain in recent weeks as the country faces a wave of deaths attributed to it PneumoniaAnd communication with high-profile personalities.

The Vice President of the Zanzibar Archipelago, Saif Sharif Hamad, who suffers from COVID-19, has died, and Mr Magufuli was forced to admit, lukewarm, to the presence of the virus in the province.

According to the Tanzanian constitution, Samia Solo Hassan will assume power For the remainder of the five-year period.

The first female president in Tanzania to take office, says Thabet Jacob With a much weaker base, which the Magufuli family will control and wit.

It will fight to build its own base and rivalries will appear between factions., pridect.