President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced that Kenya will observe a seven-day period of mourning in honor of the late Tanzania President John Magufuli.
Magufuli died Wednesday aged 61 from a heart condition, his vice president said, after more than five years as president, capped by his refusal to take COVID-19 seriously.
Addressing the nation from State House in Nairobi on Thursday, Kenyatta said Kenya’s national flag and that of the East African Community (EAC) and be flown at half-mast until the day of Magufuli’s funeral.
Magufuli, popularly nicknamed the ‘Bulldozer’, had been missing from public view for almost three weeks, fuelling wild rumours of his ill health, with opposition leaders claiming he had contracted the virus.
‘I have lost a friend, a colleague, and a visionary ally; whom I worked with closely, particularly on our commitment to forge lasting bonds between Kenya and Tanzania.t,’ Kenyatta said.
‘On behalf of the government and people of Kenya I convey our sincere condolences to the First Lady of Tanzania, their children, and his entire family’ he added.
‘Africa and the world has, indeed, lost an illustrious leader; whose vision, passion, and immense leadership propelled the nation of Tanzania forward, and also steered the East African Community to closer integration and cooperation. On the continental stage, President Magufuli was a champion of pan-Africanism,’ Kenyatta added.
Tanzania’s Vice President Samia Suluhu Hassan has announced a 14-day mourning period.