Nairobi News

Must ReadNews

Tanzania’s recent prominent deaths


Tanzania President John Magufuli’s death is the latest in a string of prominent deaths to rock the East African country in the past year.

In an announcement made on Wednesday by Tanzania’s vice-president Samia Saluhu, Magufuli died of a heart attack at a Dar es salaam hospital.  But who are the others who have passed on?

1. Benjamin Mkapa – Born in 1938, he served as the third president of Tanzania between 1995 to 2005.

Magufuli announced Mkapa’s death on July 23, 2020. The Makerere University graduate was 81 at the time of his death. He is said to have passed on in a hospital in Dar es Salaam, where he’d been receiving treatment. He died a few months after visiting Kenya to attend former president Daniel Moi’s funeral. He is said to have succumbed to heart-related complications.

2. Seif Hamad – He was until his death, the first vice president of Zanzibar.

He died on Febraury 17, barely three months after assuming office.

He previously served as the 2nd chief minister of Zanzibar.

Hamad was hospitalized in January and it was reported he had, alongside his wife and aides tested positive for Covid-19.

He died at Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam on 17 February 2021. He was 77 years old.

3. John Kijazi – He was until his death the chief secretary President John pombe Magufuli’s administration.

He died on February 17 at the age of 65 at the Benjamin Mkapa Hospital in Dodoma where he was receiving treatment. The cause of his illness was not made public.

4. Professor Benno Ndulu -The former Governor of the Bank of Tanzania died on February 22, 2021 at the age of 71.

He died while receiving treatment at the Hubert Kairuki Memorial Hospital in Dar es salaam.

According to his personal assistant Msafiri Nampesya, professor Ndulu was admitted for 10 days before he died.

Despite him not being a politician, he was one of the exceptional Tanzanians who shone his light in Tanzania and beyond its borders. He used his knowledge and expertise to influence economic policy nationally, regionally, and internationally.