By Staff Reporter
Tanzania’s former President Ali Hassan Mwinyi has died at the age of 98.
The death of the former head of State was announced by President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
Mwinyi, who was the second President of Tanzania, was in office between 1985 and 1995.
He succeeded the founding president, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.
Mwinyi died three months before his 99th birthday.
He was hospitalised on February 24 for chest illness.
Mr. Mwinyi was 60 when he took over the presidency in 1985 as the handpicked successor of Mr. Nyerere, who had volunteered to step down after governing his country since its beginnings of independent nationhood as Tanganyika in 1961 and its merger with Zanzibar in 1964 to create the state of Tanzania.
Mwinyi removed restrictions on private enterprise and eased bottlenecks on imports, earning the nickname Mzee Rukhsa, a Swahili phrase which loosely translates to Mr. Permission.
