Tanzania’s new president calls for unity after Magufuli’s death

Tanzania has received a lot of global attention for months now due to its approach towards fighting the coronavirus pandemic, but the death of its former president, John Magufuli climaxed that.

John Magufuli was not willing to embrace science to fight the pandemic and attracted a lot of criticisms from his critics.

Now the country’s new President, Samia Suluhu Hassan, who is the first female in Tanzania and East Africa wants to chart a new path towards unity.

Samia Hassan Suluhu will now be in power as President until 2025 when the country goes to the polls again to elect a new president.

President Hassan on Friday called for unity and asked citizens to avoid pointing fingers after the death of John Magufuli.

She said at her swearing in that “This is a time to bury our differences, and be one as a nation. This is not a time for finger pointing, but it is a time to hold hands and move forward together.”

President Hassan has also urged Tanzanians to never look back adding that what is needed is to concentrate on the future.

John Magufuli died on Wednesday from heart attack, according to the government ending speculations about his whereabouts for weeks.

He is to be buried in his hometown of Chato next Thursday, as the nation mourns him for a period of 21 days.

Just last year John Magufuli won the country’s presidential election, securing over 12.5 million votes, with opposition leader Tundu Lissu coming in second with almost 2 million votes.

Nicknamed “The Bulldozer”, Magufuli was in his first term in 2015 accused of flouting due process and brooking no criticism in the East African country once held up as a stable democracy in an often-volatile region.

Opposition figures faced violence and police intimidation, press freedom was squeezed, and political rallies banned in a steady crackdown that international rights watchdogs said was a steady erosion of freedoms.