Zambia’s President Michael Sata — nicknamed “King Cobra”
for his sharp tongue and manner — has died, officials said
Wednesday, making his vice-president Africa’s first white
head of state in decades.
Sata, 77, died Tuesday while undergoing treatment in London’s
private King Edward VII hospital for an unspecified illness, the
Zambian government said.
Vice-
President
Guy Scott,
70, was
named
interim
leader —
making him
the first
white
president of
an African
nation since
FW de Klerk ruled apartheid South Africa more than 20 years
ago.
Scott, whose parents were from Scotland, is not eligible to
stand in the upcoming presidential election — which must be
held within the next 90 days — because of a rule in Zambia’s
1996 constitution barring heads of state with foreign parents.
“Dr Scott will act as president of the Republic of Zambia until
the country goes for a presidential by-election” said Defence
Minister Edgar Lungu.
Scott issued a statement confirming his temporary promotion
and the 90-day period for the elections.
He added that national mourning for Sata would begin
Wednesday. “We will miss our beloved president and
comrade,” he said,
– From train station cleaner to president –
Sata was elected in 2011 to preside over his landlocked,
southern African nation of 15 million people.
It was a triumphant post for a man who rose from sweeping
London railway stations, through to being a policeman and
trade unionist.
Once in power, though, he proved to be an authoritarian
populist who inveighed against political foes, the media and
sometimes even allies, earning him his snakey sobriquet. His
admirers saw him more as a no-nonsense man of action.
Rumours of him being seriously ill persisted during his final
months in office. Frequent denials by the government — and
legal action against activists claiming he was dying — did
nothing to dispel them.
Sata had not been seen in public since returning from the UN
General Assembly last month, where he failed to make a
scheduled speech.
The announcement by cabinet secretary Roland Msiska on
Wednesday that Sata had died created little surprise.
“It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing on of our
beloved president,” Msiska said in an address to the nation.
Speculation was turning to who might become Zambia’s next
president.
Even before Sata’s death, analysts had said a power struggle
for Zambia’s top job was already well under way within the
ruling Patriotic Front (PF) party.
When Sata flew to London just over a week ago for treatment
he appointed his defence minister as acting president.
But Lungu, who also holds the justice portfolio, is seen as just
one of several potential candidates within the faction-ridden
party.
And outside the PF, former president Rupiah Banda, who is
facing graft charges, has hinted at a possible return to active
politics.
“I am legally eligible to stand,” he told AFP early this month,
citing calls from his supporters to return to the political fray.
– Tributes to Sata –
African leaders meanwhile paid tribute to Sata.
Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta hailed him as an
“outstanding son of Africa”.
“He was gifted with unique, admirable abilities and strong
values,” Kenyatta said in a statement.
South Africa’s ruling ANC said: “Zambia has lost not only a
president who prioritised the poor, but also led the Zambian
government at a time when the continent is working to reclaim
its place in the global governance and economy.”
Sata rode to power on the back of resentment against the
Chinese resource firms that dot Zambia, describing them as
“infesters”.
His government had recently cracked down on political
opponents and critical journalists who reported on his long-
suspected illness and frequent “working trips” abroad,
apparently for medical treatment.
