Former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa, who ushered in free-market reforms after winning the nation's first democratic elections in 1995, has died. He was 81.
Mkapa died at a hospital in the nation's commercial hub, Dar es Salaam, while receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness, President John Magufuli's office said in a statement on Friday. Mkapa was last seen in public at an event on July 11 in the capital, Dodoma, when the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi party announced Magufuli will run for a second term in elections in October.
A former journalist and diplomat who studied at Makerere University in neighboring Uganda and Columbia University in New York, Mkapa served as Tanzania's president for a decade until 2005.
During his rule, he implemented far-reaching reforms that helped transform the gold- and gas-rich East African nation from a socialist state into a free-market economy. Mkapa's efforts included the sale of state-owned companies to private investors and opening up the country to more foreign investment through policies supported by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Mkapa also helped mediate political reconciliation and peace settlements in countries including Kenya and Burundi during and after his presidency.
“A statesman particularly remembered as an indefatigable peacemaker in the East African region. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family, the people and government of Tanzania,” Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairman of the African Union Commission, said on Twitter.
Magufuli declared seven days of national mourning. Arrangements are being made for members of the public to pay their last respects to Mkapa at the national stadium in Dar es Salaam.
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