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Museveni mourns ‘pragmatic great African son’ Magufuli
Uganda's president Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni and deceased Tanzanian president John Pombe Magufuli interact in Tanzania on September 13, 2020 during the signing of the key agreement on oil pipeline. PHOTO/FILE/PPU
What you need to know:
- Magufuli, 61, a man with a double edged legacy that has severally bred divided global opinion, was pronounced dead late Wednesday.
President Yoweri Museveni, a strong advocate of a unified East African states establishment has mourned the second death of a reigning president in the region within less than a year.
“I have, with great sadness, learnt of the death of His Excellency John Pombe Magufuli,” Mr Museveni tweeted Thursday morning.
“We join Tanzania in mourning the passing of a great son of Africa,” he said.
Mr Museveni eulogized Magufuli as a “pragmatic leader who believed in and worked for the economic empowerment of East Africans.”
Magufuli, 61, a man with a double edged legacy that has severally bred divided global opinion was pronounced dead late Wednesday with his death occasioned by a ‘heart condition’ called chronic atrial fibrillation, according to authorities.
His demise comes nearly a year after then Burundian president Pierre Nkurunziza died last year on June 8.
Magufuli had last been seen in public late February- sparking demands for information on his whereabouts, all as Tanzanians speculated that he had contracted Covid-19, a viral disease he quite downplayed.
Vice President, Samia Suluhu Hassan will after taking oath within 24 hours, at least until 2025 in accordance with the Tanzanian constitution assume presidency, becoming the first female president in both Tanzania and the EAC regional bloc.
Tanzania's Vice President Samia Hassan Suluhu (L) and Tanzania's President John Magufuli (C) as they speak with Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta on the phone at the State House in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on July 24, 2019. PHOTO/AFP.
