Adolphus Boy “JD” Mvemve

Adolphus Boy “JD” Mvemve On 12 February 1974, Adolphus Boy Mvemve (aka “John Dube”) was killed by a bomb in a parcel addressed to the offices of the African National Congress (ANC) at the Liberation Centre in Libala, Lusaka, where he worked as Deputy Chief Representative. The bomb also injured ANC cadre Max Sisulu, who was in the office at the same time and another MK cadre, Roy Campbell, who suffered serious facial and hand injuries. When the explosion occurred, it ripped a hole in the roof, shattering windows, and blowing out the doors of other offices in the Liberation Centre, where about seven organisations including the South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO), Revolutionary Committee of Mozambique (COREMO), Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) and the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), also had their Lusaka headquarters. Adolphus Boy Mvemve, fondly known as “Comrade JD”, exhibited inexhaustible energy during the political campaigns as a leading member of the ANC Branch in Alexander Township, wherein he threw his weight to the successes of the underground structures after the banning of the people’s movement. He was always prepared to undertake dangerous assignments on behalf of the movement in areas within the Johannesburg complex. Like many dedicated revolutionaries in the country during those difficult times, he believed that it was not enough merely to identify and understand the root causes of the plight of t