THE GREAT ESCAPE: THE STORY OF ROY MUDENDA ZAMBIA’S MOST DANGEROUS KILLER
PART ONE: THE DRAMA BEGINS
SUNDAY,
July 1, 1973, promised to be an ordinary day at Kabwe’s Mukobeko Maximum Security Prison. But the stillness of day that hung over the prison was suddenly broken when three inmates staged one of the most dramatic escapes in Zambia’s history.
Never before had any gang of criminals been so daring as to break through the huge, well secured gates of this prison facility. But that day it happened, and when it did, not unexpectedly, there was left behind a trail of blood and a stunned nation......
The dramatis personae in the horror drama – for that was what it was – were the then Zambia’s most notorious criminal, Roy Mudenda, 31, of Choma, and two Zairean (Congolese) accomplices, Alexander Kabongo, 27, and Denionne Kamunga, 21.
At the time of the escape, Mudenda, tall, well-built and light in complexion, was serving a 20-year prison sentence for aggravated robbery. Kabongo and Kamunga were serving 13 and 20 years respectively for similar offences.
The trio were working inside the prison under the supervision of a prison warder named Ackson Chingobe. All of a sudden the prisoners, who must have made advance plans for this, turned on the warder and stabbed him in the left pelvis, rendering him unconscious.
Another prison warder, a Mr Alfred Mubita, who went to investigate the groaning of the dying Mr Chingobe, saw the trio struggling to unlock the prison’s main gate. As he tried to overpower one, he was shot in the left arm.
Outside the prison gate, the three killers found a prison Land-Rover with a driver inside and ordered him out at gunpoint. They seized the vehicle keys and drove off.
Thirty-two kilometres on the Ndola Road, where police had mounted a routine road block, the bandits forced their way past a policeman who later gave chase in a private car and overtook them.
But when the bandits spotted the policeman, they panicked and the Land-Rover overturned but they fled into the bush still armed.
Nothing was heard of the fugitives until July 5 when was reported that they had attacked a Kapiri Mposhi couple and robbed them of over K100 (a substantial amount of money in days) and some clothes the previous night.
Mr Futubolo Musonda and his wife, then of Chipungu Railway Siding, told reporters that at about 03:00 hours on July 4, while they were fast asleep, there was a knock on the door of their house.
Said Ms Musonda: “The three bandits first accused us of sheltering criminals and demanded to check inside the house. When we refused, they forced the door open and ordered us to kneel down while they ransacked the house.”
One of the bandits held his gun to her chest. Suddenly, there was some commotion outside, which forced the bandit to drop the gun. He struggled to flee but she swept him off to the ground and both held onto the gun till it went off, leaving a crater on the ground.
“I was ready to die for the little hard-earned Kwacha my husband was working for as well as our clothes. At the time, my husband was still held hostage by the other two bandits inside the house,” Ms Musonda narrated.
The bandits robbed Mr Musonda of K100 and clothes and disappeared into the darkness. By then, then Central Division police chief, Mr John Chongo, had despatched more police reinforcements to Kapiri Mposhi surrounding areas to help in the search for the fugitives.
Mr Chongo had also requested for paramilitary platoons from Lusaka to help in the search “as we do not want to leave any stone unturned in the area.”
Noting that the fugitives were dressed in prison uniforms at the time of the escape, the police chief warned the public to beware of the bandits as they were likely to break into a shop or house to steal clothes as they had done at the Musondas’ sition to a home. passing position on
“This makes them dangerous and the public, especially motorists, must be careful,” he warned.
Two of the bandits. Kabongo and Kamunga, were eventually cornered the following day, July 5 apparently while heading for Lusaka.
Vigilant villagers spotted one of the bandits, later identified as Kabongo, near a Mr Mateyo’s farm, only a kilometre from the house of the Musondas’ who had been robbed the previous night.
The villagers quickly alerted the police who were still combing the area and helped them apprehend Kabongo. His colleague and compatriot, Kamunga, was cornered at Lolica’s farm in the same area on the same day.
When they heard the news of the capture of the two Zairean bandits, the then president, Dr Kenneth Kaunda, and the then Commissioner of Police, Mr Fabiano Chela, could not conceal their happiness.
The president and the police chief highly commended the police, paramilitary and other units of the security forces for their devotion to duty and efficiency. They also heaped praise on the people who had helped by supplying information that led to the fugitives’ capture.
three bandits first accused us of sheltering criminals and demanded to check inside the house. When we refused, they forced the door open and ordered us to kneel down while they ransacked the house.” One of the bandits held his gun to her chest. Suddenly, there was some commotion outside, which forced the bandit to drop the gun. He struggled to flee but she swept him off to the ground and both held onto the gun till it went off, leaving a crater on the ground
To be continued next week