Lucy Sichone: Difference between revisions

| birth_place    = Kitwe, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia)

'''Lucy Banda-Sichone''' (15 May 1954 – 24 August 1998) was a Zambian human rights lawyer, civil rights activist and journalist widely regarded as one of the most influential voices of conscience in Zambia’s post-independence history.<ref name="Wikipedia">“Lucy Sichone,” ''Wikipedia'', accessed 2025.</ref> She was the first Zambian woman to receive a Rhodes Scholarship and became nationally known for her fearless criticism of abuse of power, corruption and violations of civil liberties.<ref name="RhodesHouse">“Lucy Sichone: Zambia’s Famous Dissident,” ''Rhodes House, University of Oxford''.</ref>

Lucy Banda-Sichone was born on 15 May 1954 in Kitwe, then part of Northern Rhodesia.<ref name="Wikipedia" /> She was educated at convent secondary schools before enrolling at the University of Zambia, where she obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1981.<ref name="LusakaTimes2019">“Lucy Sichone: Conscience of the Zambian Nation,” ''Lusaka Times'', 29 August 2019.</ref>

In 1993, she founded the Zambia Civic Education Association (ZCEA), an organisation dedicated to promoting civic awareness, constitutional literacy and democratic participation among Zambians, particularly young people.<ref name="LusakaTimes2019" />

Sichone became a columnist for ''The Post'' newspaper, where her weekly column, *Lucy on Monday*, offered sharp criticism of corruption, repression and the erosion of civil liberties.<ref name="IWMF">“Lucy Sichone,” ''International Women’s Media Foundation''.</ref>

In 1996, she was summoned by the National Assembly on contempt charges following a column critical of then Vice-President Godfrey Miyanda.<ref name="IWMF" /> She went into hiding for several weeks before later surrendering, stating that defending constitutional freedoms was a duty she was prepared to uphold “to the death.”<ref name="IWMF" />

She also publicly protested police violence, including an incident in 1997 at Lusaka International Airport where security forces fired on civilians during a political rally, which she compared to the Sharpeville massacre in apartheid South Africa.<ref name="RhodesHouse" />

Although she briefly aligned herself with the United National Independence Party (UNIP) after the reintroduction of multiparty politics, Sichone later withdrew from party politics, preferring to act as an independent civic and legal advocate.<ref name="LusakaTimes2019" />

In 1996, Sichone received the Courage in Journalism Award from the International Women’s Media Foundation in recognition of her fearless reporting and commitment to human rights.<ref name="IWMF" />

In 2015, a portrait of Lucy Banda-Sichone was unveiled at Rhodes House, Oxford University, making her the first female Rhodes Scholar to be honoured in this manner.<ref name="LusakaTimesPortrait">“Lucy Sichone becomes first female Rhodes Scholar to have portrait displayed at Oxford University,” ''Lusaka Times'', 10 December 2015.</ref>

Lucy Banda-Sichone died on 24 August 1998 at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka at the age of 44.<ref name="Wikipedia" /> Her death was widely mourned, with tributes describing her as a fearless defender of justice and democracy in Zambia.<ref name="IWMF" />

[[Category:Zambian Rhodes Scholars]]

[[Category:Women human rights activists]]

[[Category:Somerville College, Oxford alumni]]