Zambian president Michael Sata dies after lengthy illness

Guy Scott named acting president

LUSAKA, ZAMBIA — Zambian President Michael Sata, once dubbed “Mr. King Cobra” for his sharptongued remarks, has died in a London hospital after a long illness. Vice-President Guy Scott, a white Zambian of Scottish descent, became the country’s acting president Wednesday, making him the first white leader of a subSaharan African nation since 1994 when South Africa moved to majority rule.

Sata, 77, had largely dropped out of public view months ago as his health deteriorated. The government did not divulge details of his condition, but some Zambian media outlets said he suffered multiple organ failure.

Rumours that Sata was deathly ill had long gripped Zambia, and opposition groups had questioned whether he was fit to lead a country of 15 million people that has enjoyed robust economic growth but suffers widespread poverty. He had served as president since 2011.

Under the constitution, Scott, a 70-year-old former agriculture minister who also worked in Zambia’s finance ministry, cannot run for president because his parents were not Zambians by birth or descent.

“Elections for the office of president will take place within 90 days. In the interim, I am the acting president,” Scott said in a radio address. “The period of national mourning started today. We will miss our beloved president and commander.”

Defence Minister Edgar Lungu, who also runs the justice ministry and is secretary general of the ruling Patriotic Front party, said it is a difficult period for Zambia and the party that Sata founded.

“The government remains intact and so does the PF as a party,” said Lungu, who is considered a possible presidential candidate.

Sata died late Tuesday night at London’s King Edward VII hospital with his wife, Christine KasebaSata, and his son, Mulenga Sata, at his side, said Cabinet secretary Roland Msiska. The son is the mayor of the Zambian capital, Lusaka.

Zambia had already declared Wednesday a national day of mourning for 26 people, all but three of them schoolchildren, who died Oct. 24 when a crowded boat capsized on Lake Kariba near the border with Zimbabwe. The children were heading to a ceremony marking Zambia’s 50th anniversary of independence from Britain.

Kenya, South Africa and other countries sent condolences to Zambia over Sata’s death. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said Sata “played a commanding role in the public life of his country over three decades.”

On Sept. 19, Sata spoke at the opening of parliament in Lusaka, poking fun at speculation about his failing health and insisting that he was still alive.

But he later failed to give a scheduled address at the United Nations in New York, where police said doctors treated him in a hotel room.

Sata had a volatile relationship with Chinese investors in Zambian mines and other infrastructure, criticizing them as exploitative but toning down his rhetoric after taking office.

Some critics say Sata became increasingly intolerant as president. An opposition leader, Frank Bwalya, was acquitted this year of defamation charges after he compared Sata to a local potato whose name is slang for someone who doesn’t listen.

As an opposition leader, Sata lost three presidential votes before taking office as Zambia’s fifth president. 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.