Tanzanian President, John Magufuli, has been flown out of the country for contacting the deadly COVID-19 virus after denying its existence, reports claim.
There has been no official response from the government, which has warned against publishing unverified information about the Tanzanian leader but he was last seen at an official event in Dar es Salaam on 27 February.
Opposition leader Tundu Lissu, who raised the alarm, alleged that his sources confirm that the president is being treated in an hospital for coronavirus in Kenya.
“He has never worn a mask, he has been going to mass public gatherings without taking any precautions that people are taking all around the world,” Lissu spoke from exile in Belgium.
“This is someone who has repeatedly and publicly trashed established medicine, he’s relied on prayers and herbal concoctions of unproven value.”
The 53-year-old also alleged that Tanzania’s Finance Minister, Philip Mpango, was also being treated at the same hospital in Kenya’s capital.
Magufuli has faced criticism even from the European Union for his handling of Covid-19, with his government refusing to buy vaccines.
It would be recalled that the 61-year-old president called for prayers and herbal-infused steam therapy to counter the virus.
Earlier this month, at a funeral for a top presidential aide, Magufuli said Tanzania had defeated Covid-19 last year and would win again this year.
The East African nation has not published its coronavirus cases since May.
