GUY SCOTT NAMED AS ACTING LEADER AFTER DEATH OF PRESIDENT MICHAEL SATA OF ZAMBIAN

Africa has its first white head of state since apartheid after the death of the charismatic Zambian president dubbed 'King Cobra'.

Vice president Guy Scott was named the country's acting leader today ahead of a presidential election in three months to formally replace Michael Sata, who died last night aged 77.

The last white leader on the African continent was South Africa's last apartheid president, FW de Klerk, before Nelson Mandela famously won the country's first true democratic elections in 1994.

Michael Sata died last night aged 77.

Vice president Guy Scott was named the country's acting leader today 

Sata being sworn in as president in 2011. 

Guy Scott stood in for Michael Sata in a summit with U.S. President Barack Obama in August

Zambia is mourning the death of Sata, a charismatic, chain-smoking father of eight who rose from being a British railway porter through decades of hard politics to become the country's president.

He left Zambia again for medical treatment on October 19 but the government had not given updates on his condition. It was suggested he may have had a heart condition.

He died last night at the private King Edward VII's hospital in Marylebone, central London.

His wife Christine Kaseba-Sata and Lusaka's mayor Mulenga Sata - one of his eight children - were at his bedside when he died.

British foreign secretary Philip Hammond said he was saddened to hear of Mr Sata's death, adding: 'He played a commanding role in the public life of his country over three decades, as governor of Lusaka, as the holder of several ministerial positions in the 1990s, as the main opposition leader, and finally as president.

'I would like to offer my condolences to his family and to the Zambian people at this time.'

Zambian cabinet secretary Roland Msiska urged the public to 'remain calm, united and peaceful during this very difficult period'. 

culled from dailymail.uk