Thread by @Kauswe3

TWIGEE LEE, The terror of Kitwe, with his ruthless thugs in the 80's

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N.B. please note that images are for illustration purposes only

One of the most notorious thugs to walk the streets of Kitwe was Twigee Lee, an unbelievably violent small fellow who lived in Chamboli township in the 1980s.
He used to live with his grandmother before he went to live with his fellow gangsters.

Also known as ‘Bon Burrows’ Twigee Lee led a gang of ruthless, dangerous criminals who plied their nefarious trade in the mining townships of Chamboli, Wusakile, the two Miseshis and Mindolo.

He was known for stabbing his victims with knives.
Twigee Lee and his fellow thugs were spreading terror in the mine townships and the gang committed horrendous crimes, including rape, robberies, unlawful wounding and kidnappings.

As the leader of the gang Twigee Lee used to wear military-type denims and an American flag head band like Sylvester Stallone, then starring as John Rambo in the First Blood movie series.
The gang was largely inspired by the war and gangster movies

Rumour had it that Twigee Lee used to periodically rape his grandmother at knife point as a ritual to allegedly ‘recharge’ his charms on the instructions of a witchdoctor. It was also rumoured that he had gouged one of his grandmother’s eyes for ritual purposes.

It is said that once, at Chamboli Market, Twigee Lee and his gang raided the market while wielding knives. They ordered all the marketeers in the shelter to contribute dried fish, kapenta (lake sardines), fresh fish, meat, beans, tomatoes, onions and salt.

No-one dared challenge them because they were very violent. They packed the food they extorted from the hapless marketeers in a sack and disappeared into the bush near Chamboli cemetery.

Twigee Lee and his friends cooked the food in stolen pots. It was a big feast. To wash it down, they went into a tavern and grabbed all the chibuku beer miners were drinking, which they put in containers and returned to the bush for a big drinking party

Twigee Lee and his minions loved patronising drinking places, their favourites being J Bar, where they would grab beer from patrons and cigarettes from mishanga boys (illegal cigarette sellers).
Patrons would voluntarily surrender their beer to the gang to avoid trouble.

“They would just come where you were drinking and take all your beer without a word. If you asked any question they would beat you to pulp or even stab you with knives and leave,” a witness narated.

When the government unleashed the feared commandos from Mushili Barracks in Ndola, popularly known as Ba Red Beret, in reference to their maroon coloured berets, the gangsters went into hiding in the bush. They only returned to Chamboli after the commandos had left.

The thugs used to move in a group with Twigee Lee in the middle.
If you did not give way for them, they would stop you and force you to pay homage to Twigee Lee as if he were some royalty.

It was baffling how such a small person, who could not win any straight fist fight, would command servile loyalty from over a dozen huge, muscular youths and men.

Twigee Lee and his gang preyed mainly on miners especially on the first day of the month (pa wanu), which was their payday

Twigee Lee and his band of thugs would spread pieces of chitenge fabric or empty grain sacks on the ground just outside the miners paypoints and display heaps of stones for sale. Imagine, just ordinary stones!

Out of fear, miners would reluctantly walk over and buy the stones, for which they had absolutely no use at all. It was just a diplomatic way of robbing the miners of their hard-earned money in broad daylight.

A hapless ‘customer’ would be forced to buy a useless stone at an exorbitant price. You were expected to carry the stone until you were completely out of their sight. Anyone seen throwing a stone away after ‘buying’ it would attract a severe beating.

But like other thugs before him, Twigee Lee’s days were numbered.

He sealed his own downfall when he raped a pregnant woman in Wusakile and callously ripped her belly open with a knife, reportedly to check the sex of the baby she was carrying.

This particular atrocity sparked outrage across the mining community. Some wives of miners staged a small protest at the Central Offices in Nkana West demanding protection. Sensing trouble, Twigee and his gang melted into hiding, but police mounted a relentless manhunt for him.

He was later spotted at Chichi tavern in Mindolo, where he was drinking beer with some members of his gang and prostitutes. Alert residents quickly tipped Mindolo Police station and the once invincible Twigee Lee was cornered in no time.

In a foolish show of bravado he lunged at the police when they confronted him and ordered him to surrender.

A constable from Mindolo Police Station popularly known as Rambo shot him at close range with a 303 Northern Rhodesia-era rifle (icituli), killing him instantly.
That episode marked the end of Twigee Lee.

Source - Zambia Daily Mail, Charles Chisala