Zambia’s new, white vice president on understanding Mugabe and standing up to China 
 
 Lusaka, Zambia 
 
 Zambia’s new vice president, Dr Guy Scott, sinks into the back seat of his armoured car. Motorbike outriders clear the traffic ahead of us as we glide through the capital. ‘I am enjoying the toys, I must say.’ He means the helicopter and the two motorcades — one for the city, another for the bush. 
 
 There were two remarkable aspects to last October’s election, in which the Patriotic Front party was voted in, ending the former government’s 20-year rule. The first was the peaceful nature of the regime change. The other was the colour of Dr Scott’s skin. It is the first time in independent Africa (Zambia gained its independence in 1964) that a white man has occupied such a high office. Recently George W. Bush passed through on a visit. ‘When they introduced me as vice president, he thought they were kidding.’ 
 
 Our convoy swings into the forecourt of the capital’s most expensive hotel. Sirens heralding Scott’s arrival are another novelty, but he insists they are used only sparingly. Except on visits to his own constituency, he jokes, when they are put on full blast — in defiance of ‘all those who thought I couldn’t make it, mainly my fellow whites.’ 
 
 It is not surprising that his popularity among the black electorate prompted much talk in international circles of reconciliation with the colonial past, of a new style of African politics that transcends the hoary old issue of race. (Most Zambians, it should be noted, shrugged off his whiteness as a detail barely worthy of comment.) 
 
 What may raise a few eyebrows, however, is his friendly relationship with an unlikely ally: Robert Mugabe. Or, as he calls the autocrat next door, ‘Bob’ — he has known him for many decades. He praises the Zimbabwean leader’s performance at a recent trade summit in Malawi. ‘You have this bloke presented to you as the local nutter, yet he was tremendously compos mentis. He spoke brilliantly. He was very clever. He nearly had the US ambassador crying into his tea, impressed with wonderment.’ 
 
 Less than 40,000 of Zambia’s 13-million-strong population are white, but among them are many Zimbabweans forced to re-settle across the border. It goes against expectations, then, that Scott insists the central message of Mugabe’s speech — namely, that Africa should keep hold of its own wealth, instead of losing out to foreign investors — ‘was right on the money. It was very sensible stuff.’ As sensible as Mugabe’s land seizures and mismanagement of the world’s fastest-shrinking economy? He sighs. ‘What has happened is very cruel and nasty and doesn’t reflect well on anybody. But it is worth trying to understand what is happening, rather than saying it’s the lunatic act of one man. It’s not.’ 
 
 It is an unusual viewpoint for a former farmer of British descent. Scott was born 67 years ago in Livingstone, on what is now the Zambian side of the Zambia-Zimbabwe border, to a mother from Watford and a Scottish father. Scott graduated in economics from Cambridge, researched robotics at Oxford, and wrote a phD in cognitive science before returning to Zambia at the dawn of multi-party politics in 1990. 
 
 Today, his is the only white face in the entire Zambian national assembly, whose members sit in horseshoe formation around a stuffed leopard and lion and a magnificent pair of elephant tusks. The man Dr Scott calls ‘The Boss’ is Michael Sata, the 74-year-old firebrand president known by others as King Cobra. He appointed his old friend as deputy after winning the election on his fourth attempt. ‘Michael knows about political symbolism. It’s one in the eye for his critics who say he’s a tribalist. Obviously, he’s not.’ 
 
 It took very little time for an opponent to question Scott’s claim to be Zambian, saying his foreign parentage made him ineligible for the post. (Constitutionally, it is only the president whose parents must have been born in the country. Should Sata become unfit, Scott would act as interim caretaker.) Still, Scott doubts a white man would have got this far in other sub-Saharan African countries lacking Zambia’s stability and tolerance. ‘I don’t think I would be nearly as welcome in South Africa, for example. Or West Africa. I get the suspicion they are pretty dubious, wondering what a white man is doing there. But for some reason, I’m very popular here.’ 
 
 How long that popularity lasts will depend on how he and Sata tackle Zambia’s top priority — its complex relationship with China. The history of huge Chinese investment here dates back to the 1960s, when Kenneth Kaunda, first president of the republic, won help from Chairman Mao to build the Tazara railway. The tracks China built opened up trade by allowing landlocked Zambia access to the Indian ocean through Tanzania, rather than its white-ruled neighbours. Today, Zambia is Africa’s biggest producer of copper and China is one of the world’s hungriest consumers of it, and relations between the two are increasingly bitter, as local people struggle to compete against a huge influx of Chinese businesses and unskilled labour. 
 
 Scott and Sata were swept to power on a vehemently anti-Chinese ticket. Scott admits they have had to tone down the ‘China-bashing’. ‘There was no need for it,’ he says. ‘It was a shock tactic to point out the problems with the Zambian-Chinese relationship. The Chinese potentially have something very good to give, but they have a reputation for being somewhat … inhumane. They employ far more people, but they are terrible managers.’ He points to a notorious clash at a mine last year, when two Chinese managers opened fire on workers as they protested against poor conditions. Eleven people were injured, but no one was prosecuted. 
 
 ‘It’s an interesting paradox, the Chinese paradox …You get open conflict quite a lot. The Chinese don’t understand that they should be dealing with the unions. What they tend to do is cosy up to the leadership, take them shopping and hope to sterilise them. Then they don’t have a conduit through which to speak to the workers … We must recalibrate that relationship.’ 
 
 Hospitable, charming, and no stranger to the unprintable expletive, Scott never quite loses the air of wily political operator. Back in his office, in a slightly chaotic ministry building, he says he is still prepared to stand up to Chinese investors. ‘We need to stop the silly things, like agreeing that so many Chinese can come here, no questions asked, then the next thing you know they have dominated the chicken market … We deport Zimbabweans and Congolese all the time, poor sods who are refugees from economic hardship. Why should Chinese of unknown origin be sitting outside Lusaka growing chickens?’ 
 
 Low-flying jets roar overhead, interrupting us. ‘It’s the coup,’ he jokes. He knows the honeymoon period isn’t quite over. ‘There is a good spirit around. People are still waving at me in the street. When they start throwing stones, that’s the beginning of the end.’ 
 
 This article first appeared in the print edition of The Spectator magazine, dated March 10, 2012 ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption These people in the Zambian capital Lusaka had mixed opinions about Guy Scott being named acting leader 
 
 Zambian Vice-President Guy Scott has been named acting leader following the death of President Michael Sata. 
 
 Presidential elections to choose a permanent successor will be held within 90 days, Defence Minister Edgar Lungu said. 
 
 Mr Scott, who is of Scottish descent, becomes Africa's first white head of state for many years. 
 
 Mr Sata died in the UK aged 77 after receiving treatment for an undisclosed illness. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption A look back at Zambian President Michael Sata's life 
 
 He was being treated at London's King Edward VII hospital where he died on Tuesday night. 
 
 'Beloved comrade' 
 
 Mr Scott regularly stood in for the president at official events, but was never appointed acting president when Mr Sata was abroad - so this is his first time to officially lead the country. 
 
 Guy Scott 
 
 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 
 
 In a brief televised address Mr Scott confirmed his appointment. 
 
 "The period of national mourning will start today. We will miss our beloved president and comrade," Reuters news agency quotes him as saying. 
 
 The president's death comes just days after Zambia celebrated the 50th anniversary of independence from the UK. 
 
 Cabinet secretary Roland Msiska said on national TV that President Sata's wife and son were at his bedside. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Michael Sata is the second of Zambia's five presidents to die in office 
 
 He is the second Zambian leader to die in office after Levy Mwanawasa in 2008. 
 
 Earlier this month reports in Zambia said that President Sata had gone abroad for a medical check-up amid persistent speculation that he was seriously ill. 
 
 Obituary: Penny Dale, BBC's former Zambia correspondent 
 
 Image copyright AFP Image caption Mr Sata was known as "King Cobra" for his tough style of public speaking 
 
 Gravelly-voiced as a result of years of chain-smoking, Michael Sata rose to political prominence in the 1980s. He quickly earned a reputation as the hardest-working governor while in charge of Lusaka and as a populist man of action. But he was also known for his authoritarian tendencies, an abrasive manner and a sharp tongue - and his critics say his nickname of "King Cobra" was well-deserved. 
 
 A devout Catholic, Mr Sata had worked as a police officer, railway man and trade unionist during colonial rule. After independence, he also spent time in London, working as a railway porter, and, back in Zambia, with a taxidermist company. 
 
 At the fourth attempt, Mr Sata won presidential elections in 2011. At first he looked as if he would keep promises to tackle corruption and create jobs and prosperity. But his term in office was marred by a crackdown on political opposition and a decline in the economy. 
 
 Obituary: Michael Chilufya Sata 
 
 He had rarely been seen in public since returning from the UN General Assembly last month, where he failed to make a scheduled speech. 
 
 After he left the country, Defence Minister Edgar Lungu was named as acting president. 
 
 Mr Scott is of Scottish descent and his parents were not born in Zambia, so he may not be able to run for president in January because of a constitutional clause.
– When George W. Bush was introduced to then-vice president of Zambia Guy Scott a few years ago, he thought somebody was joking. Scott is a white man whose parents immigrated to the country when it was still a British colony, and the death of President Michael Sata makes him sub-Saharan Africa's first white leader since the end of apartheid in South Africa, CNN reports. Scott, whose father was active in the anti-colonial movement before independence, has previously served as the country's agriculture minister. In a 2012 interview with the Spectator, Scott said his presence in government was a testament to Zambia's stability and tolerance. "I don't think I would be nearly as welcome in South Africa, for example. Or West Africa," he said. "I get the suspicion they are pretty dubious, wondering what a white man is doing there. But for some reason, I'm very popular here." The country's constitution calls for a new election within 90 days, but although Scott is now the acting president, his parents were not born in Zambia, so he may be ineligible to run for the office, reports the BBC.