(CNN) -
Tanzanian President John Magufuli has died, his government announced on his official Facebook page on Wednesday.
The 61-year-old president, who usually made weekly public appearances at Sunday church services, had not been seen since Feb. 27, fueling speculation that he was ill and being treated abroad.
A Tanzanian opposition leader called on the government to inform the public about the president's health amid mounting speculation, Reuters reported Tuesday.
"It is important that the government inform the public about the president's health to reduce current fear," Zitto Kabwe, leader of the ACT-Wazalendo party, said in a statement.
"The president's health is not supposed to be a secret."
Known as "The Bulldozer" for his tough stance against corruption and hard-line policies, Magufuli achieved victory in October 2015 as the fifth president of Tanzania.
But enthusiasm for Magufuli's intolerance of corruption was short-lived when a crackdown on democracy and critical voices began.
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Magufuli oversaw the closures and suspensions of numerous media outlets, while his government undermined judicial and parliamentary independence, implemented a partial ban on public rallies, harassed parliamentarians, closed political space online, and prosecuted critics under the laws. defamation and sedition laws.
Early in the pandemic, Magufuli dismissed the severity of the coronavirus in Tanzania, urging its citizens to "pray to eliminate the coronavirus," believing that "the satanic virus cannot live in the body of Jesus Christ," and blaming the growing number of cases. positive to defective test kits.
In June, he claimed that his country had eradicated the coronavirus "by the grace of God," questioned the safety of foreign covid-19 vaccines and did not make any plans to get vaccines for his country, but pressed for the use of medicinal herbs and steam treatments.
Tanzania has not reported COVID-19 figures since April 2020, prompting the World Health Organization to ask the country to release data on the coronavirus and increase public health measures.
Last month, the US embassy in Dar es Salaam warned that COVID-19 cases had increased since January.
Tanzania