Zambia’s Acting President, Guy scott, who took over from Michael Sata last month, after Sata’s sudden death, has been suspended as party leader by the ruling party for “unconstitutional conduct”.It comes after Scott fired a member of the Patriotic Front  without giving a reason.

The move by the party comes at a time when there has been a power struggle within the Patriotic Front, with news recently that the former first lady, Sata’s widow, and her son respectively, wanted to take charge as party leader and represent the Patriotic Front in next year’s elections. The infighting began soon after Sata’s death, with some people pointing to the Zambian constitution that would bar Scott from running as president because his parents were not born in Zambia (Scott’s Parents were British).

While Zambia has been hailed as one of the Southern African countries with much potential, the current situation reflects badly on the country’s political elites, not least because some people have used racial slurs and divisive colonial references to attack Scott, who was born in Zambia, and is Zambian in every respect. It also highlights regressive national laws which may be doing the African continent more harm than good. More details here [Via New York Times] and here [Via Reuters]