On Wednesday, October 29, 2014, Zambia’s Vice President, Guy Scott, has been appointed President of Zambia, hence becoming the first post independence African white head of state. He has replaced the late Zambian President Michael Chilufya Sata, following the death of the latter in London on October 28, 2014.
Although his appointment is temporary, the fact that he is white in an African democratic independent country make him a first. The only other white heads of state were either under apartheid in South Africa or during colonial times.
The Zambian constitution does not allow the 70-year old David Scott to run for President because he was born from parents who were not born in Zambia.
David Scott was born in Zambia from Scottish parents and was educated at the prestigious Oxford University in Cambridge, UK as an economist. We was the Vice_President to Michael Sata. He will have to organize elections within three months.
He is well like by Zambians, who call him the “black in white clothing”.
Many Zambians have welcomed his interim appointment. David Scoot attended US-Africa Leaders Summit, earlier this year.
The self-styled and populist Michael Sata nicknamed "King Cobra", had been president of Zambia, since 2011. Coming from worker unions, he had pushed for several populist policies that, at point drew criticisms from the elite and foreign investors but that made him hugely popular among the masses. His death is likely to deeply impact the economical policies, especially in the mining sector, of the copper rich Zambia.
