The Vice-President of the semi-autonomous islands of Zanzibar, Seif Sharif Hamad has died a few weeks after contracting coronavirus.
The president of Zanzibar, Mr. Hussein Mwinyi, has announced seven days of national mourning following the sad news of his second hand’s demise.
He is to be buried on Thursday, flags would fly at half-mast during the mourning period, the president said.
The 77-year-old Zanzibari politician had been receiving treatment at Muhumbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam, a few weeks after contracting coronavirus.
The Vice-President, popularly known as Maalim Seif, was a giant figure in opposition politics in Zanzibar – and Tanzania in general, BBC’s Athuman Mtulya from Dar es Salaam reports.
He had joined a government of national unity in Zanzibar following last October’s elections.
He was the leader of the ACT Wazalendo party and was the most prominent official in Tanzania to publicly declare that he had contracted Covid-19.
The authorities have repeatedly declared that the East African nation is free from coronavirus and stopped publishing official Covid-19 data in June last year.
