By InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Michael Chilufya Sata, President of Zambia has died at the age of 77 on Wednesday in London’s King Edward VII hospital, London where he was receiving medical treatment, according to a report by Zambian Watchdog.
The Zambian Watchdog reports say the cause of death of Sata who had been ill for sometime was not immediately disclosed.
The report affirmed that late President Sata died Tuesday evening, leaving a power vacuum. Sata was said to have left Zambia on October 19 for medical treatment, accompanied by his wife and family members.
“As you are aware, the president was receiving medical attention in London,” cabinet secretary Roland Msiska announced on state television. “The head of state passed away on October 28. President Sata’s demise is deeply regretted,” the report quoted Msiska.
It further affirmed that Sata may likely be succeeded on an interim basis by Edgar Lungu, defense minister of Zambia who stood in recently as acting president, or by vice-president Guy Scott, who would become Africa’s first white head of state since South Africa’s F.W. de Klerk in 1994.
According to the report, the Zambian constitution says a new presidential election must be held within 90 days.
‘’Tributes poured in from Zambia and around the world. Sata was more than a public servant. He was a passionate competitor, a man of conviction and determination,” Rupiah Banda, Sata’s predecessor, said in a statement. “Above all, Michael Sata was a Zambian, in body, soul, and spirit,” Zambian Watchdog report said.
