Zambia starts investigations in president Sata’s death reports – Xinhua

Zambia institute investigations in president’s death reports

LUSAKA, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) — A senior Zambian government official on Thursday said the government has instituted investigations into the reports that President Michael Sata had died while attending the 69th session of United Nations General Assembly.

Last month, panic gripped the southern African nation when some U.S. media reported that Sata collapsed in his hotel room while attending the general assembly, with one media reporting that he had died.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Harry Kalaba, said in a ministerial statement issued in parliament that his ministry was pursuing the media house on where it got the information.

The ministerial statement was issued following concerns from opposition lawmakers who wanted to know why the Zambian leader failed to deliver his statement during the meeting and what the government was doing against the U.S. media for the information.

When asked on why Sata decided to go all the way to New York but failed to deliver his statement and decided to delegate the responsibility to a minister, the Zambian minister said it was the prerogative of the Zambian leader to delegate duties to any of his ministers.

He further denied assertions by opposition lawmakers that the Zambian delegation attended the general assembly as mere tourists, saying the delegation attended a number of high-level meetings which highlighted various issues that were of concern to the country.