WEDNESDAY, 9.30AM:
The two ringleaders of the bungled Zambian coup launched upon the coup as an afterthought after drinking heavily, reports Wednesday’s Zamiba Post in the first detailed account of the ludicrous coup.
The paper reports that Captains Steven Lungu and Jack Chiti spent the day together. Lungu has apparently been ill recently, which his colleagues say has “affected his mind” and made him aggressive. Chiti is resentful that he has not been promoted in years, and has taken to drink.
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, Chiti, who was guard commander, ordered his men to help arrest their army base commander. The commander was not at home, so they arrested his wife and children instead, and locked them in a cell, before driving off in the commander’s Mercedes Benz. They also took several cases of Windhoek Lager beer from the army bar.
They next went to a neighbouring base and “arrested” several senior officers, who were beaten up and locked into cells. The plotters then drove to a local radio station to announce that they had taken over the country, after which they fired rifles in the air to celebrate. Lungu, who named himself “Captain Solo” on air, stayed at the station, where he continued to make aggressive-sounding threats against the Chiluba government.
Chiti meanwhile went to another army base to round up support. Although some soldiers seemed sympathetic, most were suspicious of him, and he was arrested after a fracas in which two soldiers were shot in the legs.
The base commander, a colonel, then took his men to the radio station, and found Lungu cowering inside a container. He was promptly arrested, and the colonel took his own turn in front of the station mike to announce that the coup was over.