President John Magufuli of Tanzania, a prominent COVID-19 skeptic whose populist rule often cast his country in a harsh international spotlight, has died aged 61 of heart failure, it was announced Wednesday, March 17, 2021 by Vice President Samia Suluhu.
(AP Photo/Khalfan Said, File)NAKURU ā 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.
Magufuli's death was announced on Wednesday by Vice President Samia Suluhu, who said the president died of heart failure.
The president has had this illness for the past 10 years.āThe vice president said that Magufuli died at a hospital in Dar es Salaam, the Indian Ocean port that is Tanzania's largest city.
John Pombe Magufuli was born on Oct. 29, 1959, in the rural area of Chato in the countryās northwest.