Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan has lost her husband, Hafidh Ameir Hassan, who died on Monday while receiving treatment for a heart condition at a hospital in Zanzibar.

Ameir died at 08:00 local time (06:00 GMT) at the Emilio Mzena Memorial Hospital, according to Vice-President Deogratius Ndejembi, who announced his death.

Ndejembi said funeral arrangements were already being made in Kizimkazi, a village on Tanzania’s semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar.

The vice-president also expressed condolences to President Hassan, Ameir’s family and friends following his death.

Kenyan President William Ruto joined those mourning Ameir, saying he received news of his death with “deep sorrow”.

“President Samia has lost a lifelong companion, her children a beloved father, and Tanzania a distinguished son,” he wrote on social media.

Ameir, an agricultural academic, largely stayed away from the public spotlight despite being married to Tanzania’s president. He became the country’s first First Gentleman after Hassan assumed office in 2021.

His appearances alongside President Hassan were uncommon, although he occasionally accompanied her at official engagements.

Ameir and Hassan married in 1978, before she began her political career, and had four children together — three sons and a daughter.

Their daughter, Wanu Hafidh Ameir, has also followed a political career and currently serves in Zanzibar’s House of Representatives in the National Assembly. (Tribune)