KAMPALA Uganda – The death of John Magufuli, Tanzania’s strong president who urged civilians to gather in churches and mosques to defeat Covid-19, has turned East Africa upside down, but has raised hopes that a government The continent’s skeptic was about the virus and vaccines, will change Course.
Crowds gathered at Mr Magufuli’s official residence Thursday, singing wreaths and festive flags and religious songs on the first of 14 official days of mourning. The Tanzanian government has made no further statement since Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan announced on state television late on Wednesday that Mr Magufuli had died of a heart condition that had plagued him for ten years.
Opposition leaders and diplomats in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s largest city, had said for days that 61-year-old Magufuli had disappeared from public view 12 days ago for contracting the coronavirus after the sudden death of five members of his cabinet.
Ms. Hassan, now elected president, is said to be Tanzania’s first female president.
The confirmation of Mr. Magufuli’s death extends the paradox of the coronavirus pandemic in Africa, a continent that has recorded fewer cases compared to elsewhere in the world, but where several prominent leaders have died unexpectedly from coronavirus-like symptoms.