Tanzania’s Constitutional and Legal Affairs Minister Augustine Mahiga has died on Friday morning in the capital, Dodoma.

President John Magufuli, in a statement, said Mr Mahiga fell ill at his home in the morning and was pronounced dead on arrival at a local hospital.

The statement said the deceased minister had a short illness.

Mr Mahiga was a long-serving diplomat who previously served as Tanzania’s Permanent Representative to the UN, as a UN Special Representative, and also as Head of the UN Political Office for Somalia.

He was a regular on BBC programmes speaking on UN affairs, as well as Tanzania and East African matters.