John Pombe Magufuli Is Now ‘Very’ Dead After Days Of Speculation

President John Pombe Magufuli was last seen in public on 27 February, setting in motion speculations about his health. News broke out that an East African leader was at Nairobi Hospital being treated for Covid-19. The news was rubbished off by Tanzanian authorities.

Speculations about his sickness were taken over by Kenyans who talked about it on social media for more than one week. At one time, Kenyans declared that Magufuli had been transferred from Nairobi to India aboard Kenya Airways with a ventilator in tow.

Opposition leader Tundu Lissu has for days been saying that he had information that Magufuli was dead. He insisted that he was sure, the man who wanted to assassinate him, by sending people to shoot him 16 times was no more. He actually looked forward to his death more than anybody else.

Mark Twain, the great American humorist and man of letters, reputedly said: “I don’t wish anyone dead but I’ve read certain obituaries with great satisfaction.” Like him, I, too, don’t wish anyone dead but I’ll write, not merely read, a certain obituary with great satisfaction! pic.twitter.com/HM9kVuh2of

— Tundu Antiphas Lissu (@TunduALissu) March 13, 2021

Sources indicated that from 3-7 March, Magufuli became unconscious and showing signs of heart failure, according
to senior government sources and family members of the president. He has long suffered from heart problems, collapsed on a number of occasions through his first term presidency, and has a pacemaker.

Sources claimed that nobody had access to him since 7 March, adding that those closest to him have received no information regarding his whereabouts since then. This reportedly included his wife and children. The vice president
also reportedly did not know the whereabouts of the president.

The Tanzania Intelligence and Security Services (TISS) had taken control of the situation and information flows. on 7 March, President Magufuli was transferred from State House, where he had been on a ventilator for at least four days, to the intelligence services hospital on the orders of Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan.

The president’s close family was reportedly brought to the State House on the previous night (6 March). Religious leaders were called for a special prayer session and traditional healers from the president’s Sukuma ethnic group were also brought to Dar es Salaam from his ancestral home.

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Covid Within Tanzanian Government

Eight cabinet ministers, three senior officials in State House, and Chief Secretary Ally Bashiru have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in recent days. The Speaker of Parliament is also currently ill with COVID-19, as is the Director-General of TISS.

Finance Minister Philip Mpango was filmed having a coughing fit, unmasked while giving a press conference approximately two weeks ago, and reportedly also has COVID-19.

An emergency cabinet meeting was held on 9 March, but this reportedly focused primarily on the 2021/22 budget discussions and there was no discussion of the president’s health situation, despite the calling of an emergency meeting by the VP.

According to the constitution, the VP will convene the ruling CCM party’s Central Committee to discuss her replacement as VP once she assumes the role of president, and to forward the name of her proposed replacement as well as that of the prime minister to parliament for confirmation.

The relative weakness (in political terms) of Suluhu Hassan will also contribute to a slowdown in decision-making, as jostling for influence and new power dynamics become the focus of senior CCM figures.

Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who hails from Zanzibar, is not as influential within government as her position would suggest but analysts are hopeful that she will get the grip of power soon.