The 1997 Zambian coup d'état attempt was a

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

attempt that took place in

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

on 28 October 1997. The coup lasted no more than 3 hours and took place between 6 and 9 A.M. when the coup's leader, Captain Solo ( Steven Lungu) of the

Zambian Army The Zambian Army, is the land military branch of the Zambian Defence Force. Like all branches of the Zambian military, citizens of the nation are required to register at 16 years old, and citizens can join at 16 years old with parental consent or ...

, announced via the ZNBC (national radio station) that a coup had taken place and that the then President,

Frederick Chiluba Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba (30 April 1943 – 18 June 2011) was a Zambian politician who was the second president of Zambia from 1991 to 2002. Chiluba, a trade union leader, won the country's multi-party presidential election in 1991 as t ...

, needed to step down. Some international media organizations could not resist joking about the "aptly named" coup leader (''Solo'') whose demand that the President resign could be heard accompanied by laughter from radio journalists who were in the radio station at the time of the coup attempt. Captain Solo would spend the next 13 years in prison for committing treason and was released only when it became clear that he was terminally ill.

References

Coup

Military coups in Zambia October 1997 events in Africa 1990s coups d'état and coup attempts {{Zambia-stub

See also

References