LUSAKA — The Zambian government announced Wednesday that former Vice President Guy Scott has died at 82 years old, marking the passing of a man who made history as Africa’s first white head of state in roughly 20 years.
According to a government statement, Scott passed away at his farm located in the Leopards Hill area of Lusaka after battling an illness.
Scott had served as vice president under President Michael “King Cobra” Sata between 2011 and 2014. Following Sata’s death in October 2014, Scott stepped into the role of acting president, a position he held until January 2015. That brief period in power made him the first white leader of an African nation since South Africa’s F.W. de Klerk departed office in 1994.
Born in Zambia to Scottish parents and educated at Cambridge as an economist, Scott was prevented by the country’s constitution from seeking the presidency outright — a rule that disqualified him because neither of his parents was born in Zambia.
President Hakainde Hichilema has granted Scott a state funeral, the government confirmed in its statement.
