Roy Mudenda
| Born | c.1942 Namwala District (or Siangane District), Zambia (or Zaire) |
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Roy Mudenda (born c. 1942 – died 1974) was a Zambian criminal notorious for masterminding a daring escape from Mukobeko Maximum Prison in Kabwe, Zambia, on 1 July 1973. His attempted breakout—one of the most infamous in Zambia’s penal history—resulted in the murder of a prison warder and a nationwide manhunt that captured public attention. Mudenda and two Congolese accomplices were eventually recaptured, convicted of murder, and executed by hanging at Mukobeko in 1974.
Background
Mukobeko Maximum Prison, located near Kabwe in Zambia’s Central Province, was established as the country’s most secure correctional facility, housing inmates convicted of serious crimes such as murder, armed robbery, and treason. The name "Mukobeko" is derived from a Bemba term meaning "the hangman’s noose", referencing its role as Zambia’s principal site for executions.
Roy Mudenda, aged 31 at the time of his escape, was a Zambian national originally believed to be from Namwala District, though prison records listed him as a native of Siangane District in what was then Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Described by prison officers as a dangerous and manipulative offender, Mudenda was serving a twenty-year sentence for aggravated robbery.
Inside prison, Mudenda was reportedly associated with a group of habitual offenders known as “Mambo” — inmates who had been in and out of prison multiple times. Despite the tight security at Mukobeko, Mudenda began plotting his escape shortly after his incarceration.
The 1973 Mukobeko Prison Escape
On 1 July 1973, a football match between inmates from the Maximum and Minimum sections of Mukobeko provided a distraction that Mudenda exploited. Together with two fellow inmates — 21-year-old Dennione Kamunga and 27-year-old Alexander Kabongo, both Congolese nationals serving long sentences for aggravated robbery — Mudenda executed a meticulously planned escape.
According to eyewitness accounts, including that of inmate Great Chitala, the trio ambushed Corporal Axson Chingobe, a warder stationed at one of the inner gates. Mudenda fatally stabbed Chingobe with a knife fashioned in the prison’s blacksmith workshop before seizing his keys and weapon. The prisoners then overpowered other guards, raided the prison armoury, and obtained three shotguns and about twenty rounds of ammunition.
Amidst the chaos caused by gunfire and the panicked football crowd, the trio commandeered a parked Land Rover belonging to the prison service and drove off at high speed towards Ndola, intending to cross the border into Zaire. Their escape triggered a nationwide alert, with police and paramilitary reinforcements from Lusaka deployed to conduct an extensive manhunt.
The Manhunt
The fugitives abandoned their vehicle after a crash near Kapiri Mposhi, fleeing into nearby bushland with their weapons. The Zambian Police, led by Commissioner Fabian Chela, coordinated a multi-agency operation involving helicopters, roadblocks, and farm searches.
On 5 July 1973, the trio attacked a railway worker, Mr. Futabola Musonda, at Chipungu Rail Siding in Kapiri Mposhi, stealing K100 in cash and his grey suit. The robbery provided investigators with crucial leads. Shortly after, Kamunga and Kabongo were found in a weakened condition from eating raw cassava roots and were captured without resistance. Mudenda, who had separated from his accomplices, remained at large.
Capture and Trial
Mudenda’s flight ended several days later in Ndola, where he was arrested at the home of his sister, Elizabeth Mudenda Michelo, in the Kabushi township following a police tip-off from a neighbour. He offered no resistance during his arrest.
Mudenda, Kamunga, and Kabongo were jointly charged with murder, armed robbery, and escaping from lawful custody. Magistrate Krishnapillai Vaikunithvassan presided over the preliminary hearings, committing the trio to the High Court for trial. In November 1973, Judge Annel Silungwe—who would later serve as Zambia’s Attorney General and Chief Justice—found them guilty of murdering Corporal Chingobe and sentenced all three to death.
The court held that the trio acted with common purpose, knowing that violence and possibly lethal force would be necessary to achieve their escape. Their appeal to the Supreme Court was dismissed in 1974.
Execution
Roy Mudenda, Dennione Kamunga, and Alexander Kabongo were executed by hanging at Mukobeko Maximum Prison later in 1974. The case marked one of Zambia’s most publicised criminal trials of the early post-independence era and prompted widespread debate on prison security, capital punishment, and rehabilitation.
Legacy
The “Mukobeko Escape” became a defining event in the history of Zambia’s correctional system. It led to heightened security measures at all maximum-security prisons and reinforced Mukobeko’s reputation as an impenetrable fortress for condemned prisoners.
In popular folklore, Mudenda’s name became synonymous with criminal daring and defiance against the system, inspiring numerous retellings in newspapers and oral accounts across the Copperbelt and Central Province.
See also
References
- The Times of Zambia*, “Prisoners Escape from Mukobeko,” July 1973.
- The Zambia Daily Mail*, “Three Men Sentenced to Death for Murder of Warder,” November 1973.
- Zambia Supreme Court Reports*, *R v. Mudenda and Others*, 1974.
- Oral accounts from *Kabwe Archives Collection*, Central Province (1973–1975).
- “Mukobeko Maximum Prison: History and Structure.” Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of Zambia, 1980.
- Zambian Observer*, “Infamous Roy Mudenda Escapes from Mukobeko!”, retrieved 2025.
