Zambians Bury President Sata With No Clarity About Successor

By Matthew Hill  

Source: AFP via Getty Images

Zambian President Michael Sata gestures upon arrival at Solwezi airport before... Read More

Zambians gathered for the funeral of President Michael Sata today with no clarity yet on who will succeed him to rule Africa’s second-largest copper producer.
Sata, who died in a London hospital on Oct. 28 at the age of 77, will be buried at Embassy Park, where former leaders, such as Levy Mwanawasa and Frederick Chiluba, also lie. The sound of women wailing echoed through the 50,000 capacity National Heroes Stadium in Lusaka, the capital, as the cortege carrying Sata’s body entered the arena.
Foreign dignitaries in attendance include Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, his Mozambican counterpart Armando Guebuza, Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta and Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s deputy leader.
Nicknamed “King Cobra” for his sharp criticism of o
pponents, Sata’s death leaves a leadership vacuum in the ruling Patriotic Front, which he formed in 2001. Guy Scott, who was Sata’s deputy and was named interim president until elections are held in January, may be prevented by law from contesting the vote because his parents weren’t born in Zambia. Last week, he removed Edgar Lungu as the ruling party’s secretary-general, before reinstating him a day later following riots.
The political environment is “set to remain fractious and tumultuous” ahead of elections, Gareth Brickman, an Africa analyst at Johannesburg-based ETM Analytics, said in an e-mailed note to clients on Nov. 5.

Rural Poor

The ruling party’s central committee is set to meet on Nov. 13 when it may select a presidential candidate, state-owned ZNBC TV reported on Nov. 9, citing Lungu, who is minister of defense and acting justice minister.
Sata led Zambia since 2011 after unsuccessfully running for president in three previous elections. He drew much of his support from the rural poor and unemployed youth in a country where about 61 percent of the population of 14 million live on less than $1 a day.
Within four months of coming into power, Sata reversed the foreign investment deals struck by the previous government, including Johannesburg-based FirstRand Ltd. (FSR)’s purchase of a local lender. He dissolved the board of the central bank and embarked on an anti-corruption campaign that opposition leaders said targeted them.
Heightened political instability following Sata’s death puts planned aid talks with the International Monetary Fund at risk, Moody’s Investors Service said on Nov. 3. The kwacha has weakened 1.6 percent against the dollar since the beginning of the month.