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. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

attempt that took place in

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

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 a ...

, announced via the ZNBC (national radio station) that a coup had taken place and that the then President, Frederick Chiluba, 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 spent 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 in Africa 1990s coups d'état and coup attempts {{Zambia-stub

See also

References