Tanzania’s president dies after mysterious illness
- Advertisement -
Tanzania’s President John Magufuli, who long denied that Covid-19 posed a threat to his country, has died after a mysterious two-week illness, the vice president said Wednesday night.
Magufuli, 61, disappeared from the public eye on February 27, raising speculation that he had signed Covid-19, although Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa insisted last week that the president was “healthy and working hard”.
At least four people were arrested for spreading rumors that the president was ill, part of a pattern of repression against journalists who criticized Magufuli or his policies.
On Wednesday night, Vice President Salim Suluhu Hassan went on state television to announce that Magufuli was dead. “Dear Tanzanians, it is sad to announce that today, March 17, 2021, around kl. “18 lost our brave leader, President John Magufuli, who died of heart disease,” she said.
Under the constitution, Hassan is expected to take over the presidency, even though the silence during Magufuli’s illness had raised speculation that a power struggle was under way.
“The risk of this [transition] being messy is loud, ”said a senior foreign businessman with interests in Tanzania.
Opposition members who had drawn attention to Magufuli’s disappearance nearly two weeks ago said the president may have died last week. Tundu Lissu, an opposition leader who was shot several times in 2017 and fled into exile, said the president had been transferred to Nairobi for treatment and possibly continued to India after that.
Lissu tweeted earlier in the day before the official announcement of the president’s death: “While preparations for a military parade are taking place, VP is busy traveling around the country as if nothing is happening. Bob Marley said it all: ‘You can fool some people some time, but you can not fool all people all the time. And now we see the light! ‘”
The vice president said Magufuli died in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s commercial capital.
“He was an extremely divisive figure,” said Fatma Karume, former president of the Tanganyika Law Society. “For some of us, we will remember him as someone who took our constitution, tore it apart, did not care about the rule of law or our democracy or personal freedoms,” she said. “It was ruled by the fiat, and Tanzania was his personal allegiance.”
Magufuli, who studied chemistry at Dar es Salaam University, was elected a Member of Parliament in his Chato district in 1995. He became prominent as Minister of Labor from 2010, when he was nicknamed “Bulldozer” for his sincere style and reputation for gaining things done.
He was elected president in 2015 as a candidate for the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party and was seen by many as restoring party discipline and cracking down on corruption. Early in his administration, he showed up at officials’ tables and fired those he discovered had not turned up for work on time.
His style became increasingly oppressive as he cracked down on any kind of disagreement and restricted access to the internet for those who criticized him. Last October, he won another term in an election marred by intimidation by the opposition. Internationally, he was accused of telling young women who became pregnant that they could not return to school, although he was also known for derogatory contraception.
Domestically, he won some greetings for welcoming foreign investors who were considered to exploit the country. He banned the export of unprocessed ore and waged a tax dispute against the former Acacia Mining, now part of Barrick Gold, which he accused of under-declaring the value of its exports. However, critics said his strong business rhetoric discouraged both foreign and domestic investors and stifled growth.
Magufuli gained international fame during the Covid-19 crisis for being one of the few leaders in Africa who denied that the virus posed any threat. A devout Catholic, he said God would protect Tanzanians and spot tests and social distance. While most countries in Africa fought for vaccines, Magufuli said he did not trust foreign science.
Critics say his policy may have led to thousands of unnecessary deaths, though Tanzania stopped reporting Covid deaths and infections in May last year. Last month, Seif Sharif Hamad, the first vice president of the country’s semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar, died at the hospital after testing positive for Covid. Several Tanzanian parliamentarians have died of Covid-like symptoms.
Hassan is now expected to take Magufuli’s place as vice president. Born in Zanzibar, she studied economics in Manchester, UK and worked for the UN World Food Program before holding various government positions. She wanted to be the first female president of Tanzania.
.
