His family were all supporters of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA),[2] which fought alongside the MPLA (the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola) in the Angolan War of Independence (1961–75) and then against the MPLA in the ensuing civil war (1975–2002).
In 1975, nine-year-old Jamba with his family left the country, fleeing the violence following Angola's independence, and went to Zambia, where he lived as a refugee,[3] before going to England.
"[2] In 1985 Jamba returned to Angola, and worked as a reporter and translator for the UNITA News Agency.
[2] Jamba's books include Patriots (1992), an autobiographical work of fiction that received much critical acclaim.
Andrew McKie of The Telegraph writes of it: "Sousa Jamba's brilliant and terrifying (and often very funny) novel Patriots gives an account of a child's view of the war in Angola.