Tanzania’s Prez Magufuli dies

Nakuru (Kenya), March 18

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President John Magufuli of Tanzania, a prominent Covid-19 skeptic in Africa whose populist rule often cast his East African country in a harsh international spotlight, has died.

He was 61. Magufuli’s death was announced on Wednesday by Vice-President Samia Suluhu, who said the president died of heart failure. “Our beloved president passed on at 6 pm this evening,” said Suluhu on national television. “All flags will be flown at half-mast for 14 days. It is sad news. The president has had this illness for the past 10 years.” The vice president said that Magufuli died at a hospital in Dar es Salaam, the Indian Ocean port that is Tanzania’s largest city. Although the Vice-President said the cause of Magufuli’s death was heart failure, opposition politicians had earlier alleged that he had Covid. — AP