Announcing the President’s death in a live television broadcast, the country’s Vice-President, Samia Suluhu Hassan, said the President died on Wednesday, March 17, from heart complications at a hospital in Dar es Salaam.

Suluhu said “Our beloved president passed on at 6 p.m. this evening, all flags will be flown at half-mast for 14 days. It is sad news. The president has had this illness for the past 10 years”

President John Magufuli was one of Africa’s most prominent COVID-19 sceptics. He had downplayed the severity of the virus and called for prayers and herbal-infused steam therapy to counter the virus.

Mr Magufuli’s death came just days after speculations that he was sick with the virus. The rumours started swirling after Mr Lissu, the opposition figure in exile, said that the president had Covid-19 and was being treated in a hospital in neighbouring Kenya.