Former Tanzania President Benjamin Mkapa Dead

Tanzania’s president John Pombe Magufuli has announced the death of former leader Benjamin Mkapa.

President Magufuli announced Mkapa’s death via Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) on July 24.

He said the state would give more information in due course but asked Tanzanians to pray for Mkapa’s family and the nation.

Mkapa was pronounced dead at the Dar es Salaam Hospital where he had been admitted. Magufuli didn’t say what disease Mkapa succumbed to.

Born on November 12, 1938 in Ndanda, Masasi, in the then Tanganyika, Mkapa died aged 81. He was Tanzania’s third post-independence president.

Mkapa led Tanzania for a decade, from 1995 to 2005. He was succeeded by Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete.

In 2007 and 2008, Mkapa was instrumental in the efforts that restored sanity in Kenya after days of blood-letting following a disputed election that pitted opposition leader Raila Odinga against former president Mwai Kibaki.