HISTORY OF THE ZAMBIA ARMY: FROM BRITISH HANDS TO OURS
The Zambia Army was formed from the remnants of the former constituent forces of the disbanded Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe). The Federation was disbanded on 31 December 1963.
At independence, on 24 October 1964, the Army was relatively small basically for two reasons. First, its basic role was to protect the white settlers against black (Zambian) aggression of any kind. It was a protective force to maintain white class domination and supremacy.
The second reason was that the population was relatively small to manage and maintain a huge army economically. This trend was the same throughout Africa.
After independence, the role of the Army changed to the defense of the country against foreign aggression and to maintain the territorial integrity of Zambia.
The Organisation of African Unity, OAU, now the African Union masterminded this idea.
Africa was preparing itself to grow militarily because of the overall threat from the Cold War between the two superpowers of the US and the USSR.
Kwame Nkrumah, the most ardent advocate of Pan-Africanism called for the formation of a strong African Defence Force and the first republican President Dr. Kenneth Kaunda was one of the pioneers.
This meant that the UNIP government had to adopt a new strategy in the evolution of the army and other support elements. The Zambia Air Force had to be created from scratch to support the Army operations in the air. The Home Guard was created in support of the Army. The school cadet; Zambian Combined Cadet Force, training component was created and beefed in support of the Army.
From 1964 to 1970, the Army was run by British officers and men inherited from the federal forces. This meant that all units without exception were in the hands of British officers and men till President Kaunda, as Commander-in-Chief, decided to Zambianize all key positions in the Army and Air Force on 28 December 1970.
“I witnessed this process because I was then an officer cadet transiting to my commission come January 1971.” Kaunda did it in a style of a military coup. All white commanders and officers were prohibited from entering any barracks or military cantonments as of 1 January 1971. Selected Zambian officers had taken over various positions as commanders at different levels by midnight. We had a different New Year, 1971, and we rejoiced to see our own in positions of great influence and authority.