President Hakainde Hichilema has maintained a deliberately lean cabinet following his official inauguration.

Zambia's President Hakainde Hichilema has accorded that country's former Vice President Guy Scott, who died on Wednesday, a five-day period of national mourning.

The 82-year-old Zambian-born Guy Lindsay Scott was at some point the first and only white president of an independent African country.

Zambia's Government Attorney General, Mulilo Kabesha, says it should be presumed that acceptance of conditions under the Former President Benefits Act by Edgar Lungu means he intended to be given a state funeral in accordance with Zambian customs and traditions.