Tanzania President John Pombe Magufuli has finally been announced dead by the vice president Samia Suluhu, confirming the widespread rumours. Suluhu said Magufuli died of heart complications but all indications point to coronavirus disease.
Two days earlier, while speaking in the northeastern town of Tanga at the launch of a government project, Suluhu seemed to imply that to Magufuli was sick without mentioning him by name.
"I want to confirm to you Tanzania is safe. It's normal for a human being to undergo checkups like flu and fever and could suffer other illnesses. I want to plead with Tanzanians, if there was a time to hold together is now. This is the time to build unity. It's not a time to listen to information coming from outside," said the vice president then.
Ironically, Magufuli dismissed the existence of COVID-19 and even refused to receive vaccinations offered to his country by the COVAX Facility. The president had not been seen in public since February 27, and several media reports said he was taken abroad for treatment first in Kenya and later India.
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