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The Zambian president, Michael Sata, has died in London where he was
being treated in a private hospital for an undisclosed illness, the
Zambian government has confirmed.
Sata died shortly after 11pm on Tuesday at London’s King Edward VII
hospital, the cabinet secretary Roland Msiska said in a statement.
Sata’s wife, Christine Kaseba, and his son, Mulenga Sata, were at the
77-year-old president’s side when he died, Msiska said.
The statement said: “It is with a very heavy heart that I address you
today, to inform the nation that our beloved president and leader, His
Excellency Mr Michael Chilufya Sata, has passed on.
“President Sata’s demise is deeply regretted. During this difficult
period, I urge all of you to remain calm, united and peaceful during
this very difficult period.”
Under Zambia’s constitution the country will have to hold an election
for a new leader within 90 days of the death of the president.
Sata, 77, left Zambiafor medical treatment on 19 October accompanied
by his wife and family members, according to a brief government
statement that gave no further details.
There had been no official update on his condition and the acting
president, Edgar Lungu, led celebrations last week to mark the
landlocked nation’s 50th anniversary of independence from Britain.
Concern over Sata’s health has been mounting in Africa’s
second-largest copper producer since June when he disappeared from the
public eye without explanation and was reported to be getting medical
treatment in Israel.
He missed a scheduled speech at the UN general assembly in September
amid reports that he had fallen ill in his New York hotel.
A few days before that he had attended the opening of parliament in
Lusaka, joking: “I am not dead.”
Sata had not been seen in public since he returned to Zambia from New
York in late September.
The prime minister of Uganda, Ruhakana Rugunda, and the president of
Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, were among the first world leaders to
express their condolences.
