Zambia gets its first white vice president since independence in 1964
The decision by Zambian President Michael Sata to appoint a white Zambian politician, Guy Scott, sends reassuring signals to Zambians that their country has moved beyond post-colonial anger.
In this Sept. 23 file photo, Zambia's new President Michael Sata waves at supporters after taking the oath of office on the steps of the supreme court in Lusaka, Zambia. On Sept. 29 Sata appointed Zambia's first white vice president, Guy Scott, since the country gained independence in 1964.
Jerome Delay/AP/File
Chingola, Zambia
Zambia has a white vice president for the first time since the country gained independence from Britain 47 years ago.
The Sept. 29 appointment of Dr. Guy Scott by newly elected President Michael Sata has powerful symbolic value in post-colonial Africa, a sign of how Zambia has moved beyond the divisive racial politics that has dominated the continent for five decades. Other decisions taken by Mr. Sata in the past week are a hint that Sata’s regime is likely to blend populist gestures and moderate policies in ways aimed at satisfying frustrated voters without scaring off foreign investors.
Tinashe Nyastianu, a former chairman of the Zimbabwean opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) youth wing, commends Sata for choosing a white vice president.
“It is good to have many ethnic groups living and working together in your country because it brings prosperity. Sata knows it will serve Zambia well internationally because he has shown that he does not hold grudges against colonial masters,” says Nyastianu, who fled Zimbabwe after repeated physical assaults by the police forces loyal to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.
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