417
edits
Lewis Changufu: Difference between revisions
From Chalo Chatu, Zambia online encyclopedia
no edit summary
Chalochatu (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
Chalochatu (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
||
| Line 22: | Line 22: | ||
Initially, there was a ‘war cabinet’ which was constituted to oversee the whole operation. Its members were Lewis Changufu as leader, first independence [[:Category:Ministers of Finance|Minister of Finance]] [[Arthur Wina]] and an Irish party member, Mr Edmund. The committee was to identify targets for attack, and to do so, they engaged a group of youths to execute the scheme. One of the targets was a fleet of new government vehicles that were parked at the former Mechanical Services Branch (MSB) premises in [[Lusaka]].<ref name=dailymail/> | Initially, there was a ‘war cabinet’ which was constituted to oversee the whole operation. Its members were Lewis Changufu as leader, first independence [[:Category:Ministers of Finance|Minister of Finance]] [[Arthur Wina]] and an Irish party member, Mr Edmund. The committee was to identify targets for attack, and to do so, they engaged a group of youths to execute the scheme. One of the targets was a fleet of new government vehicles that were parked at the former Mechanical Services Branch (MSB) premises in [[Lusaka]].<ref name=dailymail/> | ||
However, on the eve of the attack, and to everyone’s surprise, they found that all the vehicles had been driven off and hidden elsewhere. The issue was later tabled before the UNIP Central Committee which then decided that there should be only one ‘war planner’ – Changufu. With that, he went on to establish “Cha Cha Cha" uprising committees on the [[Copperbelt Province|Copperbelt]], [[Northern Province|Northern]], [[Luapula Province|Luapula]] and [[Eastern Province|Eastern]] provinces which regularly gave him briefings. Each province was reporting to him on what they thought was the best way to bring about independence for Zambia. | However, on the eve of the attack, and to everyone’s surprise, they found that all the vehicles had been driven off and hidden elsewhere. The issue was later tabled before the UNIP Central Committee which then decided that there should be only one ‘war planner’ – Changufu. With that, he went on to establish “Cha Cha Cha" uprising committees on the [[Copperbelt Province|Copperbelt]], [[Northern Province|Northern]], [[Luapula Province|Luapula]] and [[Eastern Province|Eastern]] provinces which regularly gave him briefings. Each province was reporting to him on what they thought was the best way to bring about independence for Zambia. The uprising was to be carried out in four phases with the last being the most destructive.<ref name=dailymail/> | ||
“We only went as far as the second stage. My goodness, if we had gone to the last stage, this country would have been different from what it is today… We were not talking about guerrilla warfare; ours would have been an open onslaught. It was planned in such a way that action would take place in all the districts at the same time,” he explained. | “We only went as far as the second stage. My goodness, if we had gone to the last stage, this country would have been different from what it is today… We were not talking about guerrilla warfare; ours would have been an open onslaught. It was planned in such a way that action would take place in all the districts at the same time,” he explained. | ||
The first phase involved destruction of bridges and blocking of roads while the more serious one entailed loss of human life. The decision to cause loss of human life was arrived at after a delegation of nationalists that had travelled to London was told by the British government that majority rule could not be granted because the colonial government feared the reaction of the settlers. | The first phase involved destruction of bridges and blocking of roads while the more serious one entailed loss of human life. The decision to cause loss of human life was arrived at after a delegation of nationalists that had travelled to London was told by the British government that majority rule could not be granted because the colonial government feared the reaction of the settlers. | ||
