Zambian Vice-President Guy Scott who is of Scottish descent has emerged acting president of the south-central African country, following the death of President Michael Sata.
However, since his parents were not born in Zambia, he will ineligible to retain the office when an election to choose a substantive president is held within 90 days, due to a constitutional clause on parentage.
“The period of national mourning will start today,” Reuters quoted him as saying in a televised address.
“We will miss our beloved president and comrade.”
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Derided as “the ceremonial vice president”, Scott regularly filled in for the president at official events, but it was Edgar Lungu, the defence minister, who was appointed acting president when Sata was flown abroad for treatment.
Scott was born in 1944 in Northern Rhodesia where his father migrated to, from Glasgow, to work as a doctor on the railways
He studied Economics at Cambridge university and was appointed vice-president in September 2011 after the PF’s election victory.
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His appointment on Wednesday means he is the first white man since the end of apartheid to lead an African country.
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