Zambian President Michael Sata Dies

Zambian President Michael Sata has died after being treated for an undisclosed illness in London.

According to the BBC, President Sata, who was being treated in the UK, died in London’s King Edward VII hospital on Tuesday night.

Roland Msiska, secretary to the Zambian Cabinet, said in a statement on Wednesday that Sata died late on Tuesday in London, where he was being treated.

“As you are aware the president was receiving medical attention in London,” Msiska told state television. “The head of state passed on October 28. President Sata’s demise is deeply regreted. The nation will be kept informed on burial arrangements.”

Msiska says Sata’s wife, Christine Kaseba, and other family members were with the 77-year-old president when he died.

The Guardian has reported that Sata left Zambia for medical treatment on October 19 accompanied by his wife and family members.

There has been no official update on his condition, and the acting president, Edgar Lungu, had to lead celebrations 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.

Sata has not been seen in public since he returned to Zambia from New York in late September.

The president had also been noticeably silent on the issue of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The health minister had imposed a ban on entry to all people coming from the West African nations, where the Ebola virus has broken out. The Inquisitr reported that Guinea had imposed a similar ban at its borders.

Michael Sata was the fifth President of Zambia. A social democrat, he led the Patriotic Front (PF), a major political party in Zambia. As an opposition leader, Sata, popularly known as King Cobra, emerged as the leading opposition presidential contender and rival to President Levy Mwanawasa in the 2006 presidential election, but was defeated. Following Mwanawasa’s death, Sata ran again and lost to President Rupiah Banda in 2008.

After 10 years in opposition, Sata defeated Banda, the incumbent, to win the September 2011 presidential election with a plurality of the vote.

The constitution says a new presidential election must be held within 90 days to find a replacement for Sata.

[Image credit: Reuters/Ray Stubblebine]