John Pombe Magufuli Is Now ‘Very’ Dead After Days Of Speculation
KEY POINTS
President John Joseph Pombe Magufuli was born in Chato, north-west Tanzania, in 1959. He studied chemistry and maths at the University of Dar es Salaam and worked as a chemistry and maths teacher. He was first elected as an MP in 1995 and became a cabinet minister in 2000. He was first elected president in 2015.
After days of speculations, President John Pombe Magufuli of Tanzania is now dead. News about his demise was made public by the Vice President of Tanzania Suluhu Hassan who said that the “bulldozer” died of heart complications.
“It is with deep regret that I inform you that today… we lost our brave leader, the president of the Republic of Tanzania, John Pombe Magufuli,” Vice-President Hassan said in the announcement that Tanzanians had been waiting for days.
At the same time, she announced that there would be 14 days of national mourning and flags would fly at half-mast. As per Tanzania’s constitution, Ms. Hassan will be sworn in as the new president and should serve the remainder of Magufuli’s five-year team which he began late last year.
#Tanzania President John Magufuli dies of a heart attack,Vice President Samia Suluhu announces. Clear video by TBC https://t.co/DEv93N34qE #ripmagufuli pic.twitter.com/pgJS4Njq65
— Ali ‘Mwamvita’ Manzu (@Ali_Manzu) March 18, 2021
After being sworn in, she will become the first woman to be President in Tanzania since independence. Critics say they do not expect much change from her since she was a close confidant of John Pombe Magufuli and might just expound on what Pombe had started.
President Magufuli was last seen in public on 27 February, but Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa insisted last week that the president was “healthy and working hard”. Some people who speculated his death were arrested and jailed.
Brief History
President John Joseph Pombe Magufuli was born in Chato, north-west Tanzania, in 1959. He studied chemistry and maths at the University of Dar es Salaam and worked as a chemistry and maths teacher. He was first elected as an MP in 1995 and became a cabinet minister in 2000. He was first elected president in 2015.
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Denying the existence of Covid-19
When Covid-19 first hit the East African region, Tanzania was among the countries that took precaution by shutting down schools and encouraging people to observe Covid-19 protocols. One time, out of the blues, John Pombe Magufuli declared Tanzania free of Covid-19.
According to Magufuli, Covid-19 was not scientific but demonic and believed that only the “blood of Jesus” would heal them and said indeed, Jesus had chased Covid-19 out of Tanzania. The Ministry of Health in Tanzania stopped all daily briefs on Covid-19 in April 2020.
He discouraged his people from wearing masks. He told them that Covid0-19 was over despite numerous concerns from countries such as the United States of America. He slammed countries such as Kenya for making fun of his stand on Covid-19.
There were reports of mass deaths in Tanzania as a result of Covid-19. Pombe told Tanzanians that whenever they felt the signs, they had to take natural remedies like hot water and steaming themselves with herbs. Just like the days of Kinjengetile Ngwale, he of the Maji Maji rebellion.
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