Adamson Bratson Musanda Mushala
was a Zambian rebel leader who rebelled against the rule of the Zambian government of Kenneth Kaunda from 1975 to 1982 when he was shot by Zambia Army officers.Before his rebellion, Mushala initially belonged to the United National Independence Party (UNIP), fighting colonial minority rule. He was sent to China for guerrilla training with a view to coming back to fight the colonial government, but upon his return, Zambia was already independent.
He demanded to be the Minister Of Tourism and Wildlife in the UNIP government, which Kaunda denied. Out of frustration, he left Zambia together with his followers and went to the then South West Africa (Namibia) under the control of South Africa.
He advanced in his guerrilla training and in 1975, after inspiration from Jonas Savimbi of Angola, he came back to Zambia and rebelled against the UNIP government until 1982.
Mushala was strongly believed to have been surviving through a complexity of witchcraft and supernatural powers. There were some unconfirmed reports in Solwezi that the government had even hired some witchdoctors locally and abroad, to come and try to capture him but all was in vain.
Adamson Mushala Mushala was accused of being the most notorious Zambian dissenter,rebel fighter and leader who looted,sabotaged,abducted women and pillaged North Western province with sheer impunity from 1975 till his death on 26th Nov 1982
Adamson Mushala was gunned down in 1982 in a military ambush in the remote areas of Northwestern Province near Solwezi, where his rebellion began with a post-independence dispute in the 1960s and ended with a bullet through his eye. His body was paraded for public viewing at Solwezi General Hospital.
After the death of Mushala, his second-in-command Alexander Saimbwende took over the reins and continued the fight until September 25, 1990, when he gave up after a dialogue with the then Member of the Central Committee for North Western Province Alexander Kamalondo. He was flown to Lusaka where he was later pardoned by President Dr. Kenneth Kaunda.
Today approximately 40 years after his death,Adamson is considered by some people as a hero who rebelled agaisnt the one party rule by the then government of the Republic of Zambia lead by the late President Kenneth Kaunda under the UNIP rule.
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