Crowds gathered at Magufuli’s official residence on Thursday, carrying wreaths and party flags and singing religious songs on the first of the 14 official days of mourning. The Tanzanian government has made no further statement since Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan announced on Wednesday night on state television that Magufuli had died of a heart problem that had plagued him for a decade.
Opposition leaders and diplomats in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s largest city, said for days that Magufuli, 61, disappeared from public view 12 days ago because he had contracted the coronavirus after the sudden death of five members of his cabinet.
Ms. Hassan, now president-elect, would be Tanzania’s first female president.
Confirmation of Magufuli’s death extends the coronavirus pandemic paradox in Africa, a continent that has registered fewer cases compared to other parts of the world, but where several prominent leaders have died unexpectedly from symptoms similar to those of the coronavirus.
Africa’s 54 nations, with a population of about 1.3 billion, reported just four million cases and about 100,000 deaths, far behind the United States’ count of 29.6 million cases and 538,000 deaths among a population of about 328 million. But the continent has lost more senior leaders due to coronavirus-related complications than anywhere else in the world.
In neighboring Burundi, longtime leader Pierre Nkurunziza died unexpectedly with coronavirus-like symptoms last year, while his wife was flown to a hospital in Nairobi to receive treatment for the coronavirus. The vice president of the semi-autonomous archipelago of Zanzibar, Tanzania, Seif Sharif Hamad, died last month, days after his party announced that he had tested positive for the virus. Uganda’s deputy prime minister and Eswatini’s prime minister also died of the virus last year.
Tanzania’s vice president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, speaking on Tuesday. She is about to become the country’s new president.
Photograph:
Associated Press
Despite the rise in high profile cases, Magufuli’s death comes at a time when his mark of skepticism about Covid is flourishing in the poorest states in the region.
Burundi’s health minister said last month that his country did not need the Covid-19 vaccines as most patients were recovering. Eritrea and Madagascar have also refused vaccines, with Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina promoting a locally produced herbal medicine.
Vaccine skepticism is exacerbating Africa’s huge supply gap, with less than one dose for 100 people at the end of February, compared with 31 doses for 100 people in the UK and 22 for 100 in the US, according to compiled data. by the University of Oxford.
Diplomats and political analysts in Tanzania say the key question for the gold-producing nation is whether the governing party Chama Cha Mapinduzi can manage a smooth transition to Hassan.
The populist Magufuli, known as “the Bulldozer” for his serious approach to corruption and poverty reduction, has centralized power around his personal authority. He comfortably won the October elections, with Hassan playing a secondary role as his running mate.
“We don’t expect Ms. Suhulu [Hassan] to immediately reverse the government’s response and impose strict restrictions on Covid-19, but it will likely do so gradually over the next few months, said Zaynab Mohamed, Tanzanian analyst at NKC African Economics. “If she makes drastic changes quickly, it could negatively affect her.”
The ruling party said it would not challenge Hassan’s inauguration as president in the coming days, but opposition leaders called for his immediate inauguration, warning that the constitution does not provide for a continuing power vacuum.
In the past few weeks, Magufuli began late to institute public health measures to contain the disease, including wearing masks, after a series of high-profile deaths. But the country continued to refuse to share the coronavirus case count with the World Health Organization, which stopped providing nearly a year ago.
Despite his stance against the coronavirus and the growing repression of rights and freedoms that made him an international outcast, Mr. Magufuli remained popular at home, especially in rural communities that have benefited from one of Africa’s highest growth rates in recent years. . In Dar es Salaam, the commercial capital of Tanzania, many residents huddled in cafes and restaurants and outside on street corners to watch news of his death. Some cried when they saw the news.
Some analysts said Hassan, who has less political support, may find it more difficult to continue Magufuli’s confrontational stance against international miners.
“Investors will be on the lookout for signs that Magufuli’s replacement will follow or deviate from the former president’s nationalist path of resources,” said Ed Hobey-Hamsher, an analyst at risk analysis firm Verisk Maplecroft.
Barrick Gold Body
Chief Executive Mark Bristow, who fought with Magufuli for years over a major tax dispute in 2017 that resulted in the company’s payment of $ 300 million, expressed his condolences to the people of Tanzania, describing the late leader as “a visionary statesman ”
Magufuli’s contrary approach to the pandemic particularly angered Washington, Tanzania’s main health and safety donor, which has invested nearly $ 4.9 billion in its health sector over the past two decades.
Tanzanian authorities shut down a TV station last summer for reporting a statement from the United States Embassy that warned of an increase in coronavirus cases across the country. Weeks later, Magufuli accused the embassy of exaggerating the health crisis and warned citizens against accepting US donations of items such as masks and other medical supplies.
As Mr. Magufuli insisted that his country was free of the coronavirus, the United States contested it several times, strengthening ties. Days before the death of the Zanzibar vice president, the United States Embassy again warned of a significant increase in coronavirus cases in Tanzania. Days later, Magufuli’s chief secretary died unexpectedly, causing panic in government circles.
On Thursday, the US State Department expressed condolences after Magufuli’s death and pledged to support Tanzania in fighting the pandemic.
Write to Nicholas Bariyo at [email protected]
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