Vice-president Guy Scott is now the interim-president of Zambia, making him the first white African leader since South Africa's F.W. de Klerk lost to Nelson Mandela in the 1994 election that ended apartheid.
He takes the role following the death of president Michael Sata in a London hospital.
Scott will remain interim leader until an election in three months to install a successor.
Sata, nicknamed King Cobra because of his sharp tongue, was the third Zambian president to die in the last six years.
In the capital Lusaka, many residents were taken by surprise at the news of his death.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) ROSE THOMPSON, LUSAKA RESIDENT SAYING:
"I just can't believe it, it's very shocking news, seriously this is a great loss. I really feel bad."
(SOUNDBITE) (English) KEITH MWANZA, LUSAKA RESIDENT, SAYING:
"We are saddened by the breaking of news that the president has died. We are so sad. There must be something wrong in Zambia, so what we
