Alick Nkhata

Alick Nkhata (1922–1978) was a Zambian musician, freedom fighter and broadcaster from the 1950s to the mid-1970s. He was also the director of the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC), and formed the Lusaka Radio Band, later called the Big Gold Six Band. The band played Zambian music and scored translations of original rural songs.

Death
On October 19, 1978, Selous Scouts, a special forces unit of the Rhodesian Army, flew into Zambia using helicopters marked “Rhodesia Air Force” at very low altitudes, avoiding Zambian radar.

The main target of the Rhodesian raid was Mkushi camp, where the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) was training its guerrillas. ZIPRA was the armed wing of the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU), then waging a bush war against the Rhodesian government of Ian Douglas Smith.

Raids into ZIPRA camps in Zambia were carried out by specialized Rhodesian military units led by the notorious Green Leader, real name Chris Dixon, who openly ordered the Zambian airforce not to interfere with their operations or face similar action. If the Zambian airforce intervened, warned Green Leader, they would be wiped off the skies. In one video, Green Leader can be heard on his radio communicating with the Zambian airport tower and airforce base commander: "“This is Green Leader of the Rhodesian military. We request your permission to attack Rhodesian terrorist bases on your territory. You are not the enemy, I repeat, the Zambian government and its people are not the enemy. We are simply targeting Rhodesian terrorists.”" In a shocking response, the Zambian base commander communicating with Green Leader agrees to keep his Soviet-supplied MIG Fighter planes on the ground.

In 1974 Alick Nkhata retired to his farm at Mkushi, although he continued to play music occasionally. The farm he bought was among what were called abandoned farmlands which white farmers had left in the hands of the lands board.

As fate would have it, his farm was close to a camp of ZIPRA guerrillas. On October 19, 1978, Smith’s forces attacked the camp and Nkhata was killed in the crossfire.

Tributes
Alick Nkhata road, where the ZNBC complex and MultiChoice Zambia Head Office is located, was named after Nkhata.