126 ViewsThe stage is set for the burial of former Vice-President Guy Scott who will be laid to rest today at Leopards Hill Memorial Park in Lusaka. President Hakainde Hichilema has accorded Dr. Scott a State funeral and declared five days of national mourning in his honour. Scott, who once acted as Zambia’s president for […]

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Guy Scott

The stage is set for the burial of former Vice-President Guy Scott who will be laid to rest today at Leopards Hill Memorial Park in Lusaka.

President Hakainde Hichilema has accorded Dr. Scott a State funeral and declared five days of national mourning in his honour.

Scott, who once acted as Zambia’s president for three months following the death of President Michael Sata in 2014, died aged 82.

And Secretary to the Cabinet Patrick Kangwa announced that President Hichilema accorded the late former veep a State Funeral in recognition of distinguished professional and political contribution to the Nation.

“Members of the Public are advised that the State Funeral Burial programme will
be released in due course,” stated Kangwa.

The death of Dr Scott has brought to an end the life of one of Zambia’s most accomplished politicians whose contribution to the country’s democratic governance and public service spanned close to 30 years.

Dr. Scott, who served as Vice-President under President Michael Sata from 2011 until 2014, briefly assumed the office of acting president following Sata’s death in October 2014, becoming the first white person to lead a democratically governed mainland African country in the post-independence era.

Born in Livingstone in 1944, Dr. Scott was the son of Alec Scott, a Scottish supporter of Zambia’s independence struggle, and an English mother.

He grew up in Lusaka, where he developed the anti-racist values from his father which drove his passion even his that would later define both his political career.

Scott joined the MMD and was elected Mpika Central member of Parliament in 1991 before being appointed Minister of Agriculture by then President Frederick Chiluba.

His tenure at the Ministry of Agriculture coincided with the 1992 drought, one of the worst the country had experienced but with him as the helm of the ministry, the Government managed to prevent a humanitarian disaster.

After leaving the MMD, Dr Scott reunited with Sata in 2001 and became one of the co founders of the Patriotic Front (PF).

Apparently, a debate recently erupted in political and social circles following a proposal that former Republican President Dr. Guy Scott should be buried in the same grave as the late President Michael Sata at Embassy Park.

The suggestion, made by some PF members and Sata’s former allies over the weekend, argued that Scott served as acting president after Sata’s death in 2014 and therefore deserves to rest beside him.

Proponents say the burial would symbolize unity, loyalty, and the PF’s founding legacy.
“Dr. Scott stood with Sata through thick and thin.