Tanzania’s former President Ali Hassan Mwinyi passed away on Thursday at the age of 98, the country’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan said.
Mwinyi served as the second president of Tanzania from 1985 to 1995, succeeding the country’s founding president, Julius Nyerere.
Hassan announced Mwinyi’s death on state-owned Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation, revealing that he passed away at Mzena Hospital in Dar es Salaam at 5:30 p.m. local time (1430 GMT) after battling lung cancer.
In honor of the late president, Hassan declared seven days of national mourning starting Friday, during which all national flags will be flown at half-mast. Mwinyi’s funeral is scheduled for March 2.