Dr. Guy Scott (born 1 June 1944) is a Zambian politician of White African origin.[1] He has been Vice President of Zambia since September 2011.
Guy Scott | |
|---|---|
| Vice President of the Republic of Zambia | |
| Assumed office 23 September 2011 | |
| President | Michael Sata |
| Preceded by | George Kunda |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 June 1944 Livingstone, Northern Rhodesia |
| Nationality | Zambian |
| Political party | Patriotic Front |
| Spouse | Charlotte Scott |
| Children | 4 |
| Alma mater | Trinity Hall, Cambridge (BA) University of Sussex (PhD) |
| Profession | Agricultural Economist |
Family and early life
Scott was born in 1944 in Livingstone. His father, Alec Scott, moved there in 1927, while his mother, Grace, emigrated in 1940.
Scott completed his education in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and the United Kingdom at Cambridge University and the University of Sussex, where he obtained a degree in economics and a PhD in cognitive science respectively.[2] His participation in Zambian politics was inspired by his late father who was an ally of Zambian nationalists and a founder of anti-colonial government newspapers. During the 1950s, his father was a member of the federal parliament for Lusaka, standing on an independent ticket.
He is married and currently lives and works in Lusaka.
Professional achievements
After graduating from Trinity Hall, Cambridge, in 1965, Scott joined the government of the Republic of Zambia where he served in the Ministry of Finance as a planner. He was also the deputy editor of the Business and Economy of East and Central Africa during this period.
In 1970, Scott set up Walkover Estates. This was an agribusiness venture, which ventured into high value crops such as irrigated wheat, strawberries, and a wide range off-season vegetables. He then went on to study and obtain a PhD in robotics at Oxford University during the 1980s.
Political career
In 1990, Scott joined the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) where he was elected to serve as Chair of the Agriculture Committee at the first convention.
He was elected as Member of Parliament for Mpika on the MMD ticket in the National Assembly during the 1991 general election and was subsequently appointed as Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. He presided over a number of policy reforms and was responsible for managing the “drought of the century” in January and February 1992. There was no reserve maize in Zambia and none in southern Africa, so emergency arrangements had to be made to import it from overseas and move it into Zambia on dilapidated rail and road networks. He also oversaw the drought recovery “bumper harvest” of 1992/93.
In 1996, Scott resigned from the MMD to form the Lima Party together with Ben Kapita, the then-president of the ZNFU. He piloted the merger between the Lima Party and other parties including Dean Mungomba's ZADECO to form ZAP. In 2001, returned to politics and joined the Patriotic Front, returning to the National Assembly after being elected MP for Lusaka Central in the 2006 general election.
Vice President
A presidential election was held on 20 September 2011, and final results released on 23 September 2011 showed the Patriotic Front's presidential candidate, Michael Sata, winning over MMD's Rupiah Banda by a large margin. Guy Scott was consequently sworn in as Vice President of the Republic of Zambia on 29 September 2011.
Shortly after his election, The Guardian quoted Scott as saying: "I have long suspected Zambia is moving from a post-colonial to a cosmopolitan condition. People's minds are changing: they are no longer sitting back and dwelling on what was wrong about colonialism." Of one recent meeting with former US President George W. Bush (who sponsors various charity initiatives in Zambia), he said, "when they introduced me as Vice President, he thought they were kidding".[1]
References
- ^ a b "Dr Scott, I presume?". The Spectator. 10 March 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
- ^ "Zambia: 'Guy Scott Profile'". Retrieved 23 September 2011.