Luanshya is a town in Zambia, in the Copperbelt Province near Ndola. It has a population of 212,864 (2022 Census). The town is situated in an area which was under Chief Mushili of the Lamba people.

Luanshya was founded in the early part of the 20th century after prospector/explorer William Collier shot and killed a roan antelope on the banks of the Luanshya River, discovering a copper deposit in the process. The antelope fell to the ground, its head resting on a rock where an exposed seam of copper ore was visible. The mining company eventually formed to exploit Collier’s find was named “Roan Antelope Copper Mines Ltd”.

For most of the 20th century, copper was mined in great quantities at Luanshya but towards the end of the century, mining there became increasingly uneconomic, causing a severe recession in the town. There is still a fair amount of copper underground. Whether the town sees a revival in its fortunes will depend on how efficiently the copper is extracted and sold.

The city is the birthplace of folk singer, John Edmond, writer A. C. Grayling and former Vice President of Zambia, the late George Kunda.

The Roan Antelope Rugby Club in Luanshya formerly held the record for highest goal posts in the world, which were recognised by the Guinness Book of Records. They were 110 ft, 6 inches high.^[1]

A popular myth is that there was a river snake which was held responsible for the floodings and deaths during the early development work at Roan Antelope Mine. Roan’s workers suffered such high illness and mortality rates from malaria and blackwater fever, as well as from typhus, dysentery and pneumonia, that the mine had great difficulty keeping African laborers from one week to the next.^[2] It became common knowledge that the local Lamba attributed these problems to a giant snake, which wriggled along the river and mine shafts causing floodings and cave-ins, and spewing poisonous gas. By 1928, construction of the plant and township had begun soon after reserves of approximately 20 million tons of copper had been found. The flooding problem was solved when the Luanshya River was channeled and its swamps drained during the 1929-32 anti-malaria campaign.

The death rate from the epidemic that occurred during the early days of mine development earned the town the nickname of Valley of Death which some people latched on to as the real meaning. However, Luanshya means river of antelopes due to the many antelopes that were found in the area before mining settlements drove them away. Places thus named are Luanshya River, Luanshya Stream, Luanshya Town and Luanshya Township. The name for the Town is said to have been derived from the Luanshia mining claim. Three mining claims were named after antelopes, Rietbok, Roan Antelope and Luanshia Mining Claims.^[3]

For those who are confused about the meaning of the name it is better to think of it in this manner “Once upon a time there was a river and stream which derived its name from the antelopes that would go to drink from there. Then some foreigners came and found some copper and started mining works on the land. In the style of the local chiefs, they also adopted the two animal totems and named their mine after the antelopes, roan being the mpelembe, nsha being the duiker. They amassed a lot of wealth from the mine.

Before Independence, schools were racially segregated, with separate schooling for Europeans, Asians, “Cape Coloureds” and Africans. There were two schools for white pupils: Luanshya Primary School which is now called Central and Luanshya High School. There was Asoka Primary School for Asians, later named Gandhi, near the Second Class Trade area. For Africans there was Arusha Primary School in Mikomfwa, Mwaiseni in Mpatamatu and Fisansa in Roan townships.

After independence, more schools were built. In Mikomfwa, new schools were Ndelela, East School now Twatemwa, West School now Muchinshi, Mipundu, Mikomfwa and Arusha was later renamed Bwananyina. In Roan Township there were Roan, Chaisa, Makoma, Kafubu primary schools, while Mpatamatu had Mpatamatu, Nkulumashiba, Nkambo, primary schools. Luanshya township had Rivercross, Harrison now Mpelembe, Convent now known as Buteko.

SECONDARY SCHOOLS: Mikomfwa township had no secondary school, Luanshya township had Luanshya High School for boys and Luanshya Girls High school, Roan township had only Roan Antelope and Mpatamatu township had Mpatamatu secondary.

The mines were quickly taken over by a Chinese firm. The Chinese workforce has been accused of gross negligence and flouting Labour laws.

While the opening of the mines may have brought some social problems to Luanshya, employment rates have risen and revived the town. The population has been steadily increasing and more economic activities are visible such as the installation of a new Soya Solvent extraction plant, as well as the extension of a well known milling company. The agricultural sector is growing as small scale farmers are increasing their crop outputs to cope with growing demand. Main crops that are harvested include maize, wheat, and soybeans.

• Roan General Hospital – acute care facility with emergency facilities
• Thomson Hospital – government district hospital
• Luanshya Hospital

Luanshya currently has two constituencies, Luanshya Central covers much of the urban area whilst Roan Constituency encompasses most of the peri-urban areas.

In the 1960s, Luanshya was known as the “Garden Town of the Copperbelt”. This was largely due to the efforts of the late Bill and Doreen Altern, who initiated impressive public parks and gardens. Nowadays, the garden town has few social amenities for youths and mostly with dilapidated and neglected infrastructure.

The current mayor of the town is Cllr. Charles Mulenga.

Locally the town is headed by the Town Clerk and her executive Council consisting of five directors:

• Human Resource and Administration
• Finance
• Engineering Services
• Housing and Social Services
• Planning
• Environmental Housing
• Legal Services