The 61-year-old president died from heart complications on Wednesday. [Source: BBC]

Tanzania’s President John Magufuli has died aged 61, the country’s vice-president has announced.

He died on Wednesday from heart complications at a hospital in Dar es Salaam.

Magufuli had not been seen in public for more than two weeks, and rumors have been circulating about his health.

Opposition politicians said last week that he had contracted Covid-19, but this has not been confirmed.

Magufuli was one of Africa’s most prominent coronavirus skeptics, and called for prayers and herbal-infused steam therapy to counter the virus.