TANZANIA: Unexpected change

Change came unexpectedly in Tanzania. President John Magufuli seemed all set to continue to dominate the country’s politics. In the October election, he took 84 per cent of votes to win a second term, while his party, Chama Cha Mapinduzi, which in various incarnations has held uninterrupted power since independence in 1961, captured 261 out of 264 parliamentary seats, making Tanzania effectively a one-party state. But Magufuli did not have long to enjoy his triumph. He died in March 2021, reportedly of heart failure. Before then, he had not been seen for more than two weeks, and rumours swirled that he was in a Kenyan hospital, ill with COVID-19.