adminHerald Reporter
ACTING President Dr Joice Mujuru last Friday signed the book of condolences at the Zambian Embassy following the death of Zambian president Michael Chilufya Sata.
President Sata (77) died on Tuesday last week at King Edward VII Hospital in London where he was receiving treatment.
Dr Mujuru described President Sata’s death as a loss to Zambia and Zimbabwe.
She said she last met President Sata in Victoria Falls when Zimbabwe and Zambia co-hosted the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly in August last year.
“He had become a close friend to Zimbabwe and I remember him well when he said to President Mugabe you boast having a Vice President, I also have a white man (Guy Scott) as a Vice President. He was a very jovial person with a lot of humour,” VP Mujuru said.
She said President Sata had died at a time the region had pending cases like the Lesotho crisis and the forthcoming general elections in Namibia this month.
“Friends like President Sata were crucial in such periods. His relations with President Mugabe was like those of siblings as they did not behave like people from two different countries,” she said.
Zambia’s ambassador Ms Ndiyoyi Mutiti thanked Zimbabwe for its support during “our tragic period.”
“We value the support you and the President are giving us,” she said. “His death is a big blow to our nation. It is painful as we were plunged into mourning at a time we had just celebrated our 50th independence anniversary.”
Ms Mutiti said during the three years President Sata had been in power, Zambia had witnessed tremendous economic growth.
President Sata’s body arrived in Zambia on Saturday and will lie in state at Mulungushi International Conference Centre.
His burial has been set for November 11 at Embassy Park Cemetery in Lusaka, where the other two former Zambian presidents, Levy Mwanawasa and Frederick Chiluba were interred.
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