Zambia’s former Vice President Guy Scott dies at 82

Former Zambian Vice President Guy Scott, who made history in 2014 as Africa’s first white head of state in two decades after briefly serving as the country’s acting president, has died at the age of 82.

The Zambian government announced on Wednesday that Scott passed away at his farm in the Leopards Hill area of Lusaka following an illness.

Scott served as vice president under President Michael Sata, popularly known as “King Cobra”, from 2011 until Sata’s death in October 2014. He subsequently assumed the role of acting president, leading the country until January 2015.

His appointment made him the first white African head of state since former South African President F.W. de Klerk left office in 1994.

Born in Zambia to Scottish parents, Scott studied economics at the University of Cambridge. Despite serving as acting president, he was constitutionally ineligible to contest the 2015 presidential election because both of his parents were born outside Zambia.

President Hakainde Hichilema has approved a state funeral in honour of the late former vice president, the government said.

Source: Reuters