Zambia row over ruling party sacking

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A small crowd protested over Edgar Lungu’s sacking as PF secretary-general

Zambia’s defence minister has said the new interim President Guy Scott has illegally dismissed him from a powerful governing party post.

Edgar Lungu also said he had broken a “cultural taboo” by dismissing him as the Patriot Front’s secretary-general before President Michael Sata’s burial.

Mr Scott became acting leader – Zambia’s first white head of state – following Mr Sata’s death.

A small crowd protested against Mr Scott’s decision in the capital.

Mr Scott’s appointment was in accordance with Zambia’s constitution, which requires the vice-president – a post he held since 2011 – to assume presidential duties until elections take place within 90 days.

But he is ineligible to run for president in the elections because of a constitutional clause barring candidates whose parents were not born in Zambia.

Power struggle

In a statement, Mr Lungu, a presidential hopeful, said his sacking was “illegal and and highly provocative”.

The BBC’s Meluse Kapatamoyo in the capital, Lusaka, says Mr Scott’s move has surprised many people as he himself had urged people not to play politics while the nation mourns Mr Sata’s death.

A small group of PF supporters burnt barricades in Lusaka on Monday evening to protest against Mr Lungu’s dismissal, our reporter says.

Guy Scott

Guy Scott, of Scottish descent, became interim president after the incumbent’s death

• Often disparagingly referred to as the “ceremonial vice-president”


• He was born in 1944 in what was then Northern Rhodesia after father emigrated from Glasgow to work as a doctor on the railways


• A Cambridge-trained economist, he entered politics in 1990 joining the MMD which won the first multiparty elections the next year


• As agricultural minister he oversaw the recovery from a devastating drought in 1992/93


• He joined Michael Sata’s Patriotic Front (PF) in 2001


• Appointed vice-president in September 2011 after the PF’s election victory


• As his parents were not born in Zambia, a constitutional clause requiring the president to be a “third generation” Zambian may nullify any attempt to run for president

Guy Scott’s rise to Zambia’s presidency

Significantly, MP Davies Mwila, whom Mr Scott named as the new secretary-general, declined the post, she adds.

The interim president is now meeting senior party leaders to discuss the crisis.

Many Zambians believe Mr Scott’s move was intended to block Mr Lungu’s chances of becoming the PF’s presidential candidate in upcoming elections, our correspondent says.

A look back at Zambian President Michael Sata’s life

Mr Scott, 70, is seen to be allied with Mr Lungu’s rival Wynter Kabimba, the ex-justice minister.

Thousands of people have been viewing Mr Sata’s body at the Mulungushi International Conference Center ahead of his funeral on 11 November, our reporter says.

He died of an undisclosed illness at a UK hospital last week, aged 77.

Our correspondent says most people see Mr Scott as a Zambian, and do not regard his race as an issue.

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