Watch Video;Final Tribute To President Magufuli

Watch Video;Final Tribute To President Magufuli

African leaders and Head of States across the continent on Monday paid tribute to Tanzania’s late president John Magufuli, who leaves a complex legacy following his sudden death from an illness shrouded in mystery.

Thousands of mourners lined the streets of the capital Dodoma, running alongside the motorcade carrying Magufuli’s casket to the Jamhuri Stadium for the funeral.

Some wept and others even collapsed, carried away by Red Cross officials, as the motorcade arrived, on the third day that Magufuli’s body has been lying in state.

Magufuli died aged 61 from what authorities say was a heart condition, after a mysterious absence of almost three weeks, and questions remain over the true cause of his death which the opposition has said was from Covid-19.

Only visiting presidents and their delegations, and very few Tanzanians, wore masks at the funeral of one of the world’s foremost Covid-sceptics, who insisted for months that prayer had fended off the virus.

The presidents of South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Mozambique, Comoros and Malawi, as well as other top representatives from across the continent, all paid tribute to Magufuli.

“From Magufuli, we learnt how to live without dependency from other people. Look at the roads, electricity and other infrastructure projects he implemented,” said Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta.

Felix Tshisekedi of the DRC, the current chairman of the African Union, said: “My word to Tanzanians, do not stop his spirit in pursuing development. He fought against the misuse of public resources and corruption which are a chronic cancer in Africa.”

Magufuli is hailed for his fight against corruption and massive infrastructure projects, but criticised for the stifling of democracy and crackdowns on the media, civil society and the opposition.