Sudan’s last democratically elected prime minister, Sadiq al-Mahdi, has died from Covid-19 at the age of 84, his party announced on Thursday, November 26.

Al-Mahdi was overthrown in the 1989 military coup that brought Omar al-Bashir to power.

Last month, Mahdi’s family said he had tested positive for Covid-19. 

He was transferred to the UAE for treatment a few days later following a brief hospitalisation in Sudan.

In a statement, the Umma Party said that Mahdi would be buried on Friday morning in the city of Omdurman in Sudan.

Mahdi was a devoted opposition figure during Bashir’s long rule and was among public figures behind a mass-protest movement that eventually prompted the military to overthrow the president last year.

Following his death, Sudan’s transitional administration, which governs under a power-sharing deal between the military and civilian groups, declared three days of mourning.

Sudan has so far recorded nearly 17,000 coronavirus cases including more than 1,200 deaths.