Zambian Freedom Fighter, Julia "Mama" Chikamoneka
A British Army African Sergeant gave birth to Julia Chikamoneka as Julia Mulenga Nsofwa in 1910. She passed away on March 20.
A founding member of the women's brigade, now known as the women's wing, Chikamoneka organized female rallies against colonial tyranny. The brigade hosted nationalist leaders, collected money for the cause, and planned activities all around the nation. She became a leader in political activism and participation at the end of colonial authority. Her boldness, pride, and courage made her well-known and respected among women.
The Northern Rhodesia Teachers Welfare Association was founded in 1948 by Mama Chikamoneka. It later evolved into the Northern Rhodesia African Congress (NRAC), which helped bring about Zambia's independence. She and her spouse moved when she was 28 to Lusaka to look for work.
1986, maybe at the age of 75 or 76. In colonial Zambia and Northern Rhodesia, Mama Chikamoneka was a tenacious activist and freedom fighter who spent multiple periods in jail. She was also known as "Mother UNIP" due to her engagement in the Party that was at the time waging a guerrilla war against the colonizers and her brave guerrilla methods. Mama Chikamoneka became a leader in political activism and the fight against colonial control. She gained national recognition and appreciation for her bravery, courage, and pride. She urged her fellow Africans to take charge of their nation's political future.
She and her fellow freedom fighters established the Northern Rhodesia Teacher's Welfare Society in 1948, under the direction of David Yamba, which later evolved into the Northern Rhodesia African Congress political party. It was led by the late Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula, who had recently returned from London where he had been studying.
Mama Chikamoneka persuaded several women to join ZANCO because she thought the organization needed to be more assertive and well-organized.
Although ZANCO was later outlawed and its leaders were incarcerated, Mama Chikamoneka organized the African National Independence Party with the help of other females such as Mama Betty Kaunda, Emelia Saidi, and Magdalena Mumba (ANIP). They fought legal battles for their release as well as petitioned the colonial authorities about the starving families of the imprisoned leaders. Because she was frequently detained for agitating fellow citizens, she occasionally used the fictitious name Julia Chikamoneka Ico Mutusakamikila (meaning Julia, the secret of oppressing us shall be revealed).
Mama Chikamoneka and other women marched to the District Commissioner's office in March 1960, where they barged in and slapped the District Commissioner. Political activism increased in 1951, and Mama Chikamoneka joined the Women's Brigade as one of its founding members.
As Northern Rhodesia African Congress changed its name to African National Congress, its members felt a lack of activism, which led to the foundation of a breakaway group called Zambia African National Congress (ZANCO). Mama Chikamoneka persuaded several women to join ZANCO because she thought the organization needed to be more assertive and well-organized.
Afterwards, ZANCO was outlawed, its leaders were apprehended, and they were held captive, but Mama Chikamoneka, along with other women like Mama Betty Kaunda, Emelia Saidi, and Magdalena Mumba, managed to escape. She, Emelia, and Magdalena marched to the City Airport while fully undressed. Up until its rebranding as the Women's League in 1964, Mama Chikamoneka continued to serve as the Women's Brigade's head.
At the age of 76, Mama Chikamoneka passed away on March 20, 1986, at about 7:00.She was referred to as "a torch bearer of the Women's League" at the time of her death by fellow liberation warrior Mama Kankasa.
Zambian feminist and women’s rights activist known on Twitter as @DonCorleANN in a tweet highlighting her work referred to Mama Chikamoneka as the woman who should have been Zambia’s first president.