All is set for the burial of former Tanzania president, Dr John Pombe Magufuli, at his ancestral home town of Chato, in Geita region, today.
Magufuli, who died from heart complications on 17 March, 2021, will be buried with full military honours after completion of funeral rites.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan is expected to lead hundreds of mourners at the burial ceremony of the departed fifth president of Tanzania, who ruled the east African country from 2015.
There was outpouring of grief as residents of Chato and mourners who travelled to the Lake-side town from different corners of the country on Thursday paid their last respects to him at the Chato stadium.
The state funeral will be executed by members of the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF), who have all along escorted the casket from Dar es Salaam to the capital, Dodoma, and later Zanzibar and Mwanza for public viewing.
Presidents of neighbouring countries of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi are also expected to attend the burial at Chato, according to a government spokesman,
Following President Magufuli’s death, the government announced a 21-day national mourning during which all flags will fly at half staff.
