Magufuli Absent Due to COVID-19 – Tanzanian Opposition Leader

Tanzanian opposition leader, Tundu Lissu has said President John Magufuli has been absent from office as a result of his COVID-19 ordeal.

Magufuli, one of the world’s most vocal skeptics of COVID-19 had previously downplayed the seriousness of the virus on many occasions, trivializing the dangers of the virus and mocking the tests.

Late last year, he said Tanzania conducted tests and found Pawpaw and goats positive of COVID-19.

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He also said the disease is not rampant in Tanzania because churches had prayed against it, despite tests not being conducted since June 2020.

Lissu said the President was in a state of coma on Wednesday morning, adding that his sources are from Kenya’s security and medical architecture. Magufuli hasn’t been in office for almost two weeks, with Tanzanians apprehensive about the situation.

Lissu, who lost in December 2020 Presidential election to Magufuli said the incumbent was first flown to a hospital in Nairobi before he was taken down to an unknown hospital in India.

Kenyan media also reported that an unknown African leader was on a ventilator in Nairobi.

The Tanzanian government is yet to come out with an official position as to the absence of the “Bulldozer” as Magufuli is known in the country.

Author

  • Olayide Oluwafunmilayo Soaga is a Nigerian journalist with four years of professional experience. She reports on health, gender, education and development, with a focus on impact-driven storytelling.

    She was runner-up for the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) Best Solutions Journalism Award in West Africa in 2024 and a finalist for the 2025 West Africa Media Excellence Awards.

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