Condolences pour in after death of Tanzanian president

Tributes from East African leaders have poured in for the late president of Tanzania, John Pombe Magufuli, who leaves a controversial legacy, especially his denialist stance on the Covid-19 pandemic.

After nearly three weeks of Magufuli not being seen in public and speculation about his health, Vice-President Samia Suluhu Hassan announced on Wednesday that the president had died at the age of 61 of a heart condition, Al Jazeera reported.

Magufuli was said to have suffered from this heart condition for 10 years.

A 14-day national mourning period was instituted for the late president, according to Hassan.

Tributes from his fellow East African leaders have poured in, most of whom remember Magufuli for being profoundly pan-African.

Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed took to social media to express his condolences on Magufuli’s death.

President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni honoured the work Magufuli did in East Africa.

“He was a pragmatic leader who believed in and worked for the economic empowerment of East Africans,” Museveni said.

Similar sentiments were shared by Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, who remembered Magufuli for propelling Tanzania forward and steering the East African Community towards integration and for being a “champion of pan-Africanism”. Kenya has declared a seven-day mourning period.

Evariste Ndayishimiye, president of Burundi, said on social media that he was saddened by the loss of ”a great leader, a true pan-Africanist”.

A day before Magufuli’s death was announced, the leader of the opposition, Zitto Kabwe of Alliance for Change and Transparency Wazalendo, urged the government of Tanzania to divulge Magufuli’s whereabouts.

Rumours were rife that Magufuli, a long-time Covid-19 denialist and vaccine sceptic, had contracted the coronavirus and that that explained his absence. Magufuli had continuously professed that God had defeated the coronavirus in Tanzania and that vaccines were dangerous.

The opposition’s presidential candidate during Tanzania’s 2020 national elections, Tundu Lissu of the Party for Democracy and Progress, alleged that Magufuli had died of Covid-19, adding that it was “poetic justice”, KTN News Kenya reported.

“The only thing that surprises me is the fact that they (Tanzanian government) continue to lie up to now, even now that he’s dead,” Lissu said.

The Cybercrimes Act recently saw four arrests being made for posting rumours to social media regarding Magufuli’s health during his absence.

The late president continuously rejected scientific evidence as mere fiction and took no precautions to protect his citizens from Covid-19 – no lockdowns, no vaccine orders and no mask-wearing.

The last time the World Health Organization received statistical updates regarding the Covid-19 situation in Tanzania was May, 2020. |