Edgar Lungu did not want me to act as President when Sata died. – Guy Scott.
The constitution of Zambia was extremely clear. On the death of the president, the vice president becomes acting president. I became acting president when I was fast asleep; I found out about it perhaps thirty minutes later.
However there were some who were not keen on this idea. It would have been so much more convenient to have a Presidential candidate as action president during an election. It’s only for the kudo’s; there are practical benefits that come with being President, such as the services of the air force and other handy entitlements.
As it happened, Michael had appointed Edgar Lungu to act as President in his absence when he was whisked out of Zambia, unannounced and not mentioned to me, about a week before. At the time, I know that he was not all lucid. Perhaps he had a sudden moment of clarity, but personally I doubt he really knew what he was doing. Anyway, regardless of any appointment while the president is alive, the moment he died, the constitutional provisions applied, and the baton passed to me.
Despite this, there was a stand-off for some hours. Edgar Lungu convened a meeting of cabinet members at State House. They announced the death of the president, without so much inviting me to the meeting, and tried to argue that Edgar was Michael’s chosen successor and as such should remain as acting president. I was not present when the attorney general and Emmanuel Chenda arrived at State House and busted up that debate. I do know, however, that rather later in the day than should have been the case-the heads of the Defence Forces lined up and saluted me.
The issue of my qualification to be acting president grumbled on for several days. There were some fairly hot headed statements about whether I had unjustly snatched Edgar’s ‘instruments of powers,’ or indeed whether he had graciously decided to hand them over. These battle of – Bosworth-style stories focused on some physical representation of power but these are a work of fiction.
I presided over Michael’s funeral, which lasted an entire scorching November day, and was attended by dozens of senior leaders from Africa and beyond. Mugabe was chairing the SADC at the time, and he and his wife, Grace therefore played a prominent role. Ructions on the day were limited to a handful of pouts and the program over ran by hours.
After that, the job went on. I managed to keep a lid on some of the worst attempts to misuse state resources for the forthcoming elections. I swore in some ambassadors and judges, and I did the daily job of a President.
But the consequences of lameness grew over time. In particular, the actions of several ministers and senior officials seemed to abandone Protocol, custom and common sense. People came and went from their offices, from Cabinet meetings, from Lusaka and indeed from country, without regard for how the Zambian government is meant to conduct itself. A number of civil servants absconded from their posts to work on Edgar’s campaign while others spent their days peering out of cabinet office windows and making threating phone calls to everyone they thought maybe planning to visit my office. I myself recieved many threats being messages from within Zambia, and indeed from the leader of a neighbouring country( deeply concerning but possibly fraudulent).
There were some more significant breaches of the law and the constitution that happened in this period. The actions of some people influenced what happened then and continues to happen. However, I am bound by the State Security Act, and I cannot give a partial account as t would be rather lopsided………
Extract from Adventures in Zambian Politics by Guy Scott. Pages 237 to 239..