Tanzania

John Magufuli, the president of Tanzania, died at the age of 61 after not being seen in public for two weeks. The official statement said he died of a heart condition. Tundu Lissu, the opposition leader, previously claimed Magufuli had contracted Coronavirus and aides of Magufuli reportedly also got infected with Coronavirus. Magufuli had been a prominent Coronavirus denier.

Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has released a statement urging Tanzania to "scale public health measures against COVID-19 and to prepare for vaccination" and to share "data in light of reports of COVID-19 cases among travellers." Tanzania had last shared its Covid-19 data in May 2020.

"This situation remains very concerning. I renew my call for Tanzania to start reporting COVID-19 cases and share data. I also call on Tanzania to implement the public health measures that we know work in breaking the chains of transmission and to prepare for vaccination," the statement read.

On Sunday a fire has erupted on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. The fire could be observed near the middle of the mountain and "efforts to extinguish it are still ongoing" according to the Tanzania National Parks service.

According to the newspaper "The Citizen", people from neighboring communities helped to combat the fire, but because the fire broke out at a higher altitude, the extinguishing work was difficult.

Benjamin Mkapa, the former President of Tanzanzia, has died at age 81. The news were broadcasted by Tanzania’s president John Pombe Magufuli alongside a declaration of a seven-day national mourning period.

Mkapa led from 1995 to 2005 and was the leader of regional peace mediation efforts. He also played a part in the ending of the post-election violence in Kenya in 2007.