Zambia's First White President Guy Scott Dies at 82

Central Message

(Central News Agency, Lusaka, Zambia, April 15 – compiled international news) The Zambian government announced today the death of former Vice President Guy Scott at the age of 82. He briefly served as acting president in 2014, becoming the first white head of state in Africa in 20 years since 1994.

According to the Associated Press, Scott served as Zambia's vice president. In 2014, following the death of then-President Michael Sata in office, Scott served as acting president for three months.

As a result, Scott became the first white head of state in Africa since F.W. de Klerk, the former president of South Africa. De Klerk was the last president during South Africa's apartheid era and stepped down after Nelson Mandela was elected in South Africa's first non-racial democratic election in 1994.

The Zambian government stated that Scott passed away at his private farm in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. The current Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema announced that a state funeral will be held for Scott, though the exact date has not yet been confirmed.

Scott, of Scottish and English descent, was first elected to Zambia's National Assembly in 1991. He was later appointed Minister of Agriculture, Food, and Fisheries, and became vice president in 2011.

Scott became Zambia's first white vice president since the country's independence from British colonial rule in 1964, and later the nation's first white president (in an acting capacity). (Intern translator: Huang Yu-Han / Reviewer: Chen Yu-Ting) 1150716