Former Tanzanian president Mkapa died from heart attack

East Africa

Relatives of former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa have said he died of a heart attack while suffering from malaria.

Family member William Erio told a funeral mass, broadcast on state television, that he wanted to dispel rumours that Mr Mkapa had been infected with coronavirus.

No cause was given when the death of the 81-year-old was announced on Friday. He was the third president of Tanzania, leading the country from 1995 to 2005.

Tanzania has stopped publishing statistics on Covid-19 cases and the current leader, John Magufuli, has been accused of covering up the scale of the problem.

Officially there have been just over 521 deaths in Tanzania - far fewer than in neighbouring countries.

Source: BBC 

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