KOTA KINABALU – Former Sabah governor Tun Sakaran Dandai, 91, died at 5.30am today at Gleneagles Hospital here, said his grandson, Ahmad Marzuki Nasir.
In a tribute posted on Marzuki’s Facebook page, he wrote that Sakaran “fought the virus fearlessly until his last breath tapi Allah lebih sayang nenek”.
Meanwhile, his son, Datuk Nasir Sakaran, said in a message that his father’s burial rites will be handled by the state mosque and that he will be accorded a state funeral.
Sakaran was hospitalised after testing positive for Covid-19 on August 18 and was admitted to the intensive care unit six days later.
Semporna-born Sakaran was Sabah’s eighth governor from January 1995 to December 2002.
He was the state’s eighth chief minister from March to December 1994, and Semporna MP from August 1986 to April 1995.
His death comes just one day after Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin, another veteran Sabah politician, died of Covid-19 as well. – The Vibes, August 30, 2021