Tanzanian President John Magufuli dies at 61

The president of  Tanzania dies at 61.

Moreso, he was first elected in 2015, long denied the dangers of the coronavirus and pushed the East African nation deeper into authoritarianism.

In a televised address to the nation late on Wednesday, Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan said the 61-year-old president had died of a “heart condition”, which he had suffered for a decade, at a hospital in Dar-Es-Salaam.

Magufuli had first been briefly admitted to the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute on March 6 but was subsequently discharged. But he has rushed to the hospital again on March 14 after feeling unwell.

READ ALSO: Bayelsa is one of the states that has been cheated over the years – Gov. Diri

After the death was announced, opposition leader Zitto Kabwe said he had spoken to Hassan to offer condolences for Magufuli’s death.

“The nation will remember him for his contribution to the development of our country,” Kabwe said in a statement published on Twitter.

According to Tanzania’s Constitution, Hassan, 61, should assume the presidency for the remainder of the five-year term that Magufuli began serving last year after winning a second term.

Magufuli had long downplayed the severity of COVID-19, urging Tanzanians to pray, use steam inhalation and embrace local remedies to protect themselves from the respiratory disease.

Tanzania stopped releasing infection numbers in April 2020, weeks before Magufuli declared in June that the country was coronavirus-free due to divine intervention.