Michael Sata

Michael Sata
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
In office 1996–2001
Preceded by	Guy Scott
Succeeded by	Mateyo Mwaba
Constituency	Mpika
Personal details
Born	(1937-07-06)6 July 1937 Mpika, Awemba North, Northern Rhodesia
Died	28 October 2014(2014-10-28) (aged 77) London, England
Resting place	Embassy Park 15°25′19″S 28°18′34″E / 15.421884°S 28.309314°E / -15.421884; 28.309314
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.