Mwamba Luchembe

Mwamba Luchembe (Lieutenant Christopher Mwamba Luchembe), born in 1960 is a former Zambia Army Lieutenant who at the age of 30 attempted a coup d’état during the one-party state era of Dr Kenneth Kaunda in 1990. His action came at a time when Zambians needed change of government and had risen against the rule Kaunda's.

On July 1, 1990 Luchembe managed to find himself in the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) radio studios where he announced that the Zambia Army had taken over Government and he cited riots of the previous week as reasons for his action because about 27 people had died while more than 100 were wounded. Although Lieutenant Luchembe's action can be described as a failed coup attempt against president Kaunda, it certainly weakened his political power which was already shaky after three days of rioting.

Arrested

Lieutenant Mwamba Luchembe was captured by soldiers and was escorted from the Zambian National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) radio studios and taken to the outskirts of the capital, Lusaka. "I wanted to take over the government but Kaunda's puppets are stopping me," he said, pointing to the soldiers surrounding him. "These are Kaunda's puppets."