THE
LUMPA CHURCH REBELLION
FORT JAMESON, Northern Rhodesia -~ Although not yet fully independent, Northern Rhodesia has already gone through its first experience at sabotage and calculated destruction, And there is very little doubt that at the very root of all the recent trouble has been the forces seeking to undermine the independence and reconstruction of Zambia [name chosen for Northern Rhodesia, whose independence is scheduled to be granted October 24],
The Lumpa Church rebellion against authority was far more than a mere expression of its independence from the governing party. While the friction between members of this church and members of the. United National Independence Party L[UNIP], now in power, has led and | could have led to minor skirmishes, assault and retaliation, this | latest rebellion, so widespread, involving thousands of persons and ° causing the loss of hundreds of lives and many hundred wounded, had more profound causes than a mere altercation between church and | state, We believe that Mrs, Alice Lenshina was a mere tool, a pawn in a complex plot to embarrass Government on the eve of independence and to undermine its authority.
Alice Lenshina received her formal religious education from the Church of Scotland Mission. In 1953 she claimed that she had died on September 25 but was reborn, for on reaching heaven God had refused her permission to enter and had entrusted her with the task of banishing witchcraft from the world, She set about this with alacrity. After'establishing her own (Lumpa). Church, she embarked on an enthusiastic campaign in: the northeastern part of the country. By 1955 the church had made more than 50,000 converts spread over most of Northern Rhodesia, and 60,000 pilgrims had visited her at her village. Most of these were fstolen away" from the established mission churches. «
She preached against polygamy, witchcraft, drinking, smoking,. dancing and all worldly pleasures. She.exacted a stern dedication. from all her converts. Much to the annoyance of the missionariss she preached against the New Testament, declaring it to be "obsolete." But above all she was an excellent businesswoman, All pilgrims had to pay before being granted an audience, or to be blessed or healed, Many spent a few days or weeks soaking up the purifying atmosphere surrounding Lenshina -- and paid for board and lodging; church members made large and regular contributions, ("Pay now --~ pray later," )
By 1958 the church was a well co-ordinated, well-organized body. The first clash with police took place at that time, Great friction then arose between the Lumpa Church and the two leading political partiés ~~ as Lenshina firmly forbade her followers from participating in "politics," Those discovered in possession of a party card-would be forced to burn these in public. Frequent clashes occurred between Lumpa members and UNIP members, rising to a peak in
1962 with the elections, But nevertheless UNIP must have made inroads into Lenshina'ts following because the membership dropped to below 15,000.
With the November 1963 elections, UNIP, capturing 55 of the 75 seats, took over control of the country, and the Lumpas feared that they would be made to suffer for their lack of co-operation during the liberatory struggle. On December 28, 1963, thirty Lumpas were attacked by.100 UNIP supporters, The vast majority of members withdrew into entirely isolated villages which they surrounded by moats and pointed stakes up to nine feet high, After this, peaceful co-existence between Lumpas and the rest of Zambia was impossible, Lumpas recognised only the authority of. Lenshina.
In June, 150 Lumpas attacked a police patrol but were rapidly subdued, The Prime Minister himself visited Lenshina and she promised to command her followers to obey the law of the land and to remain at peace, This promise was never kept. Instead the Lumpas made preparation for "total war" on all the non-Lumpas,
On August 24 a band of Lumpas ambushed a police patrol, killing two policemen. It was the signal for a massive Lumpa war of attrition on all the other villages in the Chinsali area. Dozens of villages were burned and their inhabitants slaughtered, the Lumpas attacking with muzzle-loaders, bows and arrows, spears and axes, There were five main waves of assault, The first by Lumpas in the Chinsali area. Then by the army which had now been. mobilised against them, Then by Lumpas in the Lundazi district; and again army retaliation, Finally by relatives and friends and neighbours of those killed by the Lumpas. In all, some 600 people were killed and 400 wounded,
After two gory weeks the Lumpa Church was: broken, banned by government decree, and its adherents scattered, or arrested, Alice Lenshina and her husband surrendered to the police,
Apart from the heavy drain on the resources of the country (more than 1,000 troops and police were called into action), many residual causes have been created, Some 6,000 refugees, driven from their homes, have to be resettled, Epidemics of smallpox, typhoid fever, pneumonia, malnutrition, rabies and dysentery have started in the big, hastily set up refugee encampments, The long, difficult process of the rehabilitation of the Lumpas is to be faced, Venge~ ance against the Lumpas must be kept to the minimum,
To add to the confusion and to magnify the difficulties confronting Government, on the day after the second great Lumpa assault, the Amalgamated Engineering Union went on strike, This ABU consists of only 84 men, all whites (South African. and Southern Rhodesian) and they were able to enforce a total stoppage of all trains in Zambia for two weeks} On the day after the Rhodesian Railways had consented to the wage increase demanded, the Rhodesian Railway Workers Union
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(also all-white) struck for the same reason -- and again no train — could run, These consecutive strikes, at such a critical period, were described by Prime Minister Kenneth Kaunda as a "national disaster," and "a dagger thrust at the heart of the nation." It cost the’ country nearly £700,000 [@l = $2.80] and seriously hampered the transport of supplies to the front!
The Lumpa rebellion, and the railway strike, are now at an end. No thorough assessment is yet possible, but Dr. Kaunda himself believes that unknown agents are working against him, to sabotage his efforts at building Zambia. On August 6 he said, Whoever this mastermind is, he must be discovered and as operations continue his identity is bound to.come out," The facts give much substance to this thesis,
@ Friotion between UNIP and the Lumpa Church, at its worst in late 1962, had decreased since then, especially with the rapid: progress toward independence scheduled for October 1964, oof.
@ There had been absolutely no precipitating factor ocourring in mid 1964 which could have driven the Lumpas beyond the point of endurance,
® The main victims of all Lumpa attacks have been mere innocent villagers, women and children and not UNIP members as auch,
e The Lumpas had nothing to gain from their gigantic acts. of defiance, and their. cause was hopeless from the outset, As much as everyone else they were victims and not the perpetrators of the. rebelliont
Finally we should state that the UNIP government, still in the process of consolidating its authority, emerged from this terrify~ ing ordeal with flying colours, and with its prestige much enhanced,
USSR HAS NEW