The President of Tanzania, John Magufuli, one of Africa’s leading Covid-19 deniers, has died after a two-week absence in public life, causing speculation that he contracted the disease.
Magufuli’s death was announced on Wednesday by the country’s vice president Samia Suluhu, who said the president had died of heart failure. He was 61.
“The President of the United Republic of Tanzania, the Honorable Dr John Pombe Joseph Magufuli … [has] he died of a heart condition at Mzena Hospital in Dar es Salaam, where he was treated, “she told state broadcaster TBC.
Magufuli has not been seen in public since February 27 and rumors have circulated online that he is ill and possibly unfit for illness. Government officials have insisted that Magufuli work normally and that citizens should ignore rumors from outside the country. Last week, the country’s opposition leader Tundu Lissu told the BBC that Magafuli was critically ill in a hospital in Kenya after contracting Covid-19.
The mystery surrounding the president’s whereabouts and condition has caused fear and anxiety in Tanzania. Police have arrested four people in the country since last week for allegedly spreading false information about the health of political leaders.
Magufuli has repeatedly denied that Covid-19 has spread in the country in East Africa, claiming without evidence that vaccines are dangerous, suggesting that people pray and inhale steam administered with herbs.
Despite numerous requests from the World Health Organization, Tanzania has not published statistics on cases since May, when it registered 509 infections. It has no known testing program in place and health officials have been banned from naming the virus.
But apparently the number of deaths of people experiencing breathing problems has increased and earlier this month the US embassy warned of a significant increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in Tanzania since January. Days later, the presidency announced the death of John Kijazi, general secretary of Magufuli.
Shortly afterwards, the vice-president of the semi-autonomous island region of Zanzibar, of which the political party reported earlier that he had Covid-19, is announced.
Critics said Magufuli’s dismissal of the threat of Covid-19, as well as his refusal to close the country like others in the region, may have contributed to many unknown deaths.
“He’s never worn a mask, he’s going to public gatherings without taking precautions that affect people around the world,” Lissu told the BBC last week. ‘This is someone who has repeatedly and established public medicine. “He relies on prayers and herbal concoctions of unproven value,” he said.
Relatives of Covid-19 victims, health workers and opposition figures have held Magufuli responsible for potentially thousands of deaths.