Africa’s first white leader in 20 years appointed as Zambia’s ‘King Cobra’ dies

Zambia’s Guy Scott became Africa’s first white head of state in 20 years on Wednesday after the president, “King Cobra” Michael Sata, died in a London hospital aged 77. Mr Scott, a Cambridge-educated economist born to Scottish parents, had been Sata’s vice president. Mr Scott will lead the southern African nation until elections are held within 90 days. He is the first white leader of an African nation since FW de Klerk, the last president of apartheid, the South African system of white racist rule that ended in 1994. Mr Scott’s appointment as vice president in 2011 caused a stir in the country.

He is a black man in a white man’s skin. The very fact we accepted him as vice-president shows that we consider him as one of us.

Nathan Phiri, a Zambian bus driver

Mr Scott, 70, is ineligible to run for the presidency in the election because of citizenship restrictions. He is a lively character who has caused diplomatic controversy in the past, describing South Africans as “backward” in an interview with Britain’s Guardian newspaper last year. “I like a lot of South Africans but they really think they’re the bees’ knees and actually they’ve been the cause of so much trouble in this part of the world,” he said. Mr Sata, who was nicknamed “King Cobra” because of his sharp tongue, died on Tuesday, the government said earlier. The cause of death was not immediately disclosed, but Sata had been ill for some time. He was at London’s King Edward VII hospital when he died, the website Zambian Watchdog reported.

The president’s passing could make way for a more reformist administration and help to remove broader policy uncertainties.

South African consultancy ETM

Africa Zambia president