Lusaka - Guy Scott, the first white person to rule Zambia since independence from Britain in 1964, said Friday that his skin was white but his blood was black.
Scott told journalists he would not give interviews for the time being, because the media kept referring to him as a white president.
“I may be white from the outside, but my blood is black,” said the 70-year-old, who became head of state on Wednesday after president Michael Sata died in London.
Scott, an economist and former agriculture minister, had served as Sata's deputy.
He cannot, however, seek the presidency in the elections due in 90 days' time because of his Scottish parentage. The constitution stipulates that the president must be a Zambian with both parents born in the country.
Sapa-dpa