Michael Sata | |
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![]() Sata in 2013 | |
5th President of Zambia | |
In office 23 September 2011 – 28 October 2014 | |
Vice President | Guy Scott |
Preceded by | Rupiah Banda |
Succeeded by | Guy Scott |
Member of the National Assembly | |
In office 1983–1996 | |
Preceded by | Maxwell Sibongo |
Succeeded by | Godfrey Miyanda |
Constituency | Kabwata |
Personal details | |
Born | Mpika, Awemba North, Northern Rhodesia | 6 July 1937
Died | 28 October 2014 London, England | (aged 77)
Resting place | Embassy Park 15°25′19″S 28°18′34″E / 15.421884°S 28.309314°E |
Nationality | Zambian |
Political party | Patriotic Front (2001–2014) MMD (1991–2001) UNIP (Before 1991) |
Spouse(s) | Margaret Manda Christine Kaseba |
Children | 8[1] |
Occupation | Police officer and trade unionist |
Nickname(s) | King Cobra |
Michael Charles Chilufya Sata (6 July 1937 – 28 October 2014) was a Zambian politician who served as the fifth president of Zambia from 2011 until his death in 2014. A social democrat,[2] he led the Patriotic Front (PF), a major political party in Zambia. Under President Frederick Chiluba, Sata was a minister during the 1990s as part of the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) government. He went into opposition in 2001, forming the PF. As an opposition leader, Sata – popularly known as "The King Cobra", emerged as the leading opposition presidential contender and rival to President Levy Mwanawasa in the 2006 presidential election, but was defeated. Following Mwanawasa's death, Sata ran again in 2008, losing to Rupiah Banda.
After ten years in opposition, Sata defeated Banda, the incumbent, to win the September 2011 presidential election with a plurality of the vote. He died in London on 28 October 2014, leaving Vice President Guy Scott as Acting President until a presidential by-election was held on 20 January 2015.