Forthright: Zambian president Michael Sata was dubbed 'King Cobra' for his venomous verbal barbs
The chain-smoking father of eight who rose from a British railway porter to Zambia's president has died aged 77.
Michael 'King Cobra' Sata, who had been in office for just three years, died at a private London hospital last night more than a month after he was last seen in public.
The charismatic president gained his nickname for his 'scorched-earth' politics and venomous barbs against opponents, one of whom was charged with defamation for calling him a potato.
But to his supporters he was a reformer who promised to hack back growing Chinese industry and sweep Zambia cleaner than he swept London's Victoria station in the 1960s.
Michael Chilufya Sata was born in 1937 into a poor district of the British colony of Northern Rhodesia, which would win independence as Zambia in 1964.
With little basic schooling he joined a Catholic seminary aiming to become a priest, but changed his mind and would eventually enter the police force instead.
He got involved in politics and trade unions, and after a controversial arrest - which he claimed was linked to his battles for independence - he came to London in the 1960s.
There he worked as a platform cleaner at the capital's Victoria and London Bridge stations before becoming a porter for British Rail, alongside other work on the railways.
He studied part-time and took casual jobs, including at a laundry in Bromley, Kent, at the Vauxhall car plant in Luton, Bedfordshire, before returning home and beginning his career in the police.
The enthusiastic taxidermist flitted between jobs - including on the board of a taxidermy firm - before becoming an active member of the United National Independence Party (UNIP).
From there it would be a slow rise to power through the newly-independent one-party state.
Slow rise: Sata at a political rally in 2006. He jumped ship to new parties twice and ran for president four times
Catholic: Early in life he joined a seminary with the apparent aim to become a priest, but later joined the police
He made his mark in 1985 by becoming the governor of the capital Lusaka, where supporters said he was a no-nonsense action man who doubled up as an eccentric showman.
His voice hoarse through decades of smoking, he served in several ministerial portfolios but clashed on policy with the country's first president Kenneth Kaunda.
As UNIP's power waned he jumped ship to the Movement for Multiparty Democracy, which won the Zambian election in 1991 and made Sata one of the nation's biggest political figures.
A decade later he jumped ship again, forming the breakaway Patriotic Front in 2001. But he would take another ten years and four election campaigns to finally become president.
During his 2011 campaign he paraded through the streets in 'Noah's Ark' - a speedboat pulled on a trailer - and declared to supporters: 'Jump on board and be saved from poverty'.
Divisive: Sata being sworn in as president in 2011. During the campaign he paraded through the streets in 'Noah's Ark', a speedboat pulled on a trailer, and told supporters they should jump on board to escape poverty
Power: Once Sata took office several critical journalists and political opponents were handed criminal charges
He promised to sweep away corruption and Chinese 'infestors' as the mineral-rich nation reaped the spoils of a copper mining boom.
Painting himself as a champion of the poor, he had a 90-day transformation plan and pledged to lower taxes and create more jobs.
But once in power, his forthright style often morphed into heavy leaning on political enemies.
He once threatened to sack his entire cabinet - collapsing his government - if they did not do a better job.
He cracked down on political foes, and in January one opponent was charged with defamation for comparing him to a potato.
Frank Bwalya used a radio interview to describe the president as a 'chumbu mushololwa', a sweet potato which bends when bent and a slang term for someone who ignores advice.
Making his mark: Sata began as the governor of the capital Lusaka in 1985, but left the party soon afterwards
Popular: Sata at a 2006 rally. He was last seen in November after returning from the UN General Assembly in New York, where he missed a speech amid rumours he had been taken ill in his hotel room. He died in London
His presidential predecessor Rupiah Banda was also charged with a string of offences and in June, three opposition activists were criminally charged for claiming the president was dying.
Journalists who reported on his long-suspected illness were also targeted, with Sata sacking figures in state-owned media.
In an interview with the Telegraph after he was elected, Sata spoke wistfully of his time on London's railways and said it made him more aware of poverty in his own country.
'I had no choice but to do what all black people were doing in England, he said. 'If I went to England and I was treated like a gentleman, I would not have had any resolution to look after this country.'
[Please] remain calm, united and peaceful during this very difficult period
Zambian politician Roland Msiska
But poverty was far from eliminated under Sata's rule, and unemployment in Zambia remains over 50 per cent.
Sata was last seen briefly in September after returning from the UN General Assembly in New York, where he missed a scheduled speech amid rumours he had fallen ill in his hotel.
Just days earlier he had attended the opening of parliament in Lusaka, joking: 'I am not dead.'
He left Zambia again for medical treatment on October 19 but the government had not given updates on his condition. It was suggested he may have had a heart condition.
He died last night at the private King Edward VII's hospital in Marylebone, central London.
His wife Christine Kaseba-Sata and Lusaka's mayor Mulenga Sata - one of his eight children - were at his bedside when he died.
British foreign secretary Philip Hammond said he was saddened to hear of Mr Sata's death, adding: 'He played a commanding role in the public life of his country over three decades, as governor of Lusaka, as the holder of several ministerial positions in the 1990s, as the main opposition leader, and finally as president.
Neighbours: With Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe in 2012. The nations share a border at Victoria Falls
Prominent: Sata with the leaders of Sudan and Zimbabwe at a regional economic summit in February
Dilapidated: Sata (centre) leaves parts of Zambia still crippled by poverty despite its huge reserves of copper
'I would like to offer my condolences to his family and to the Zambian people at this time.'
Zambian cabinet secretary Roland Msiska urged the public to 'remain calm, united and peaceful during this very difficult period'.
Defence minister Edgar Lungu or vice-president Guy Scott are likely to take up the post of interim president while the country looks towards the future.
The constitution says a new presidential election must be held within 90 days
If Mr Scott won, he would become Africa's first white head of state since South Africa's last Apartheid leader FW de Klerk was voted out in the country's first democratic elections in 1994.
Most analysts, however, say he is unlikely to run because of citizenship restrictions.
Source:DailyMail
