Zambian president dies in London
Print Edition
ZAMBIAN President Michael Sata who was elected president in 2011, died after an illness, the Zambian government announced yesterday.
Vice President Guy Scott, a white Zambian of Scottish descent, was appointed acting president of the southern African nation until elections are held within 90 days.
Scott is the first white leader of an African nation since FW de Klerk, the last president of South Africa under apartheid, the white racist regime that ended in 1994.
Scott, a 70-year-old former agriculture minister, has said he has no presidential ambitions, and he cannot in any case become a fully empowered president because his parents were born outside Zambia, according to analysts.
“Dr Scott will act as president of the republic of Zambia until the country goes for a presidential by-election,” said Defense Minister Edgar Lungu, who is also secretary general of the ruling Patriotic Front party. “The government remains intact and so does the Patriotic Front as a party,” Lungu said.
Sata died shortly after 11pm on Tuesday at London’s King Edward VII hospital, where he was being treated, Cabinet secretary Roland Msiska said in a statement.
Sata’s wife, Christine Kaseba-Sata, and his son, Mulenga Sata, were at the 77-year-old president’s side when he died. Mulenga Sata is the mayor of the Zambian capital, Lusaka.
As an opposition leader, Sata lost three presidential votes, breaking the jinx to become Zambia’s fifth president in 2011. He also served in previous governments, and was a member of every major party. Sata was born in Mpika in what was then northern Rhodesia, and worked as a police officer and trade unionist under colonial rule. He also trained as a pilot in Russia.
Kenya, South Africa and other countries sent condolences to Zambia after Sata died.
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