Zambia’s President Michael Sata, nicknamed ‘King Cobra’ for his no-nonsense character, has died, officials said yesterday, making his vice-president Africa’s first ‘white’ head of state in decades.

Sata, 77, died Tuesday while undergoing treatment in London’s private King Edward VII hospital for an unspecified illness, the Zambian government said.

Vice-President Guy Scott, 70, was named interim leader, making him the first white president of an African nation since FW de Klerk ruled apartheid South Africa more than 20 years ago.

Scott, whose parents were from Scotland, is not eligible to stand in the upcoming presidential election – which must be held within the next 90 days – because of a rule in Zambia’s 1996 constitution barring heads of state with foreign parents.

"Dr Scott will act as president of the Republic of Zambia until the country goes for a presidential by-election,” said Defence minister Edgar Lungu.

Scott issued a statement confirming his temporary promotion and the 90-day period for the elections.

Cleaner to president

Sata was elected in 2011 to preside over his landlocked, southern African nation of 15 million people.

It was a triumphant post for a man who rose from sweeping London railway stations, through to being a policeman and trade unionist.

Once in power, though, he proved to be an authoritarian populist who inveighed against political foes, the media and sometimes even allies, earning him his snakey sobriquet. His admirers saw him more as a no-nonsense man of action.

Rumours of him being seriously ill persisted during his final months in office. Frequent denials by the government – and legal action against activists claiming he was dying – did nothing to dispel them.

Sata had not been seen in public since returning from the UN General Assembly last month, where he failed to make a scheduled speech.

The announcement by cabinet secretary Roland Msiska on Wednesday that Sata had died created little surprise.

Tributes to Sata

African leaders, meanwhile, paid tribute to Sata.

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta hailed him as an "outstanding son of Africa.”

South Africa’s ANC party said: "Zambia has lost not only a president who prioritised the poor, but also led the Zambian government at a time when the continent is working to reclaim its place in the global governance and economy.”