Benjamin Mkapa, former Tanzanian President has on Friday died at 81 years in Dar es Salaam hospital where he was admitted, president John Magufuli disclosed. Magufuli in a televised statement said, "I'm saddened by the death of the third president of Tanzania and that is a big loss for us as a country. Let's pray for him and more information will follow later." He added that the country will observe a seven-day mourning period, with all flags of the country flown at half-mast.
Mkapa was the third Tanzanian president after the country's independence, leading between 1995 to 2005 before handing over to Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete.
The ex-president was born in 1938 in south-eastern Mtwara. He bagged a degree in English from Uganda and later working as a journalist.
Through his career he served in various panels across the region including the peace mediation of Kenya's post-election conciliation in 2008, Panel of Eminent African Personalities, and mediation between Burundi government and opposition in 2016 among others.
"Mkapa’s is a perfect portrait of public spiritedness replete with valuable lessons for those who
serve or wish to serve in the public space. A revolutionary at heart whose efforts to deregulate Tanzania’s economy marked the beginning of a new dawn in his country, the late Mkapa -- a close
ally of Tanzania’s founding President Mwalimu Julius Nyerere -- distinguished himself as one of the most reputable peace brokers in the region," Former president Mwai Kibaki said.
"In his retirement, Benjamin Mkapa, at some point or other, mediated peace talks in Kenya, the DRC Congo, Zimbabwe, South Sudan and Burundi. Mkapa most certainly played his role in making a Africa better place. May he rest in eternal peace," he added.
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