Theresa Kambobe, veteran scribe, gender activist ponders on Zambia's 50 years

Theresa Kambobe (white) during a conference on women in Dakar Senegal


“IT IS disheartening to note that after 50 years of independence, no single woman heads a media institution in Zambia, despite the many capable, intelligent and educated women we have around.

“There seems to be a glass ceiling that has proved too hard to crack and we must do everything possible to break it,” stressed Theresa Kambobe.
This statement is true; that after 50 years of independence, Zambia cannot boast of having a single woman to head a media institution.
And as Zambia embarks on celebrating her golden jubilee, veteran journalist, gender and human rights activist Theresa Kambobe had an opportunity to give an insight on her experiences as well as her challenges as a scribe.
Ms Kambobe, who once worked for the Zambia Daily Mail, Times of Zambia and the then Zambia National News Agency (ZANA) in the 1980s, said in those days, being a journalist was thrilling because she had an opportunity to travel far and wide as well as meeting different people.
The journalism of yester- year is somewhat different from now because there were plenty of institutions to work for, but few scribes, alas for the modern ones! “Journalism is a great career. It is versatile and exposes you to many influential people.You get to travel a lot,” she said.
It was during her execution of her duties that she got actively involved in gender activism by joining the Zambia National Women’s Lobby through her writing.
As she expedited her activism, she used to contribute articles to the Zambia Daily Mail Femail page which was created some time back, though she was faced with scorn by her peers.
Ms Kambobe recounts:“I was scorned by my peers that the Femail page I was contributing stories to was not serious and that news pages were considered most important.” One can certainly attest to the importance attached to the Femail page in most newspaper organisations by the number of days it is published.
That is why Ms Kambobe was quick to point out that there is need to first start by sensitising the media on gender equality to do away with the mindset that is still lingering, 50 years after independence.
And it is this mind that has continued to hinder women journalists from taking over as media heads.
“I remember covering world conferences on women as a reporter, but the one that stood out the most was the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. When we came back to Zambia, we made a lot of noise and carried out very forceful campaigns.
“This happened during the period when there was a new government and many women movements took advantage of this wind of change to advocate for women’s rights and by ensuring that they took part in the political affairs of our country,” she recalled.
The Beijing conference and the wind of change helped Zambian gender activism gain momentum and eventually saw many more women take part in decision-making.
However, Ms Kambobe lamented “the activism that we started then is no longer as vibrant today as we celebrate 50 years of independence. I keep wondering where we have gone wrong because every time we make a positive stride, we fall back”.
She further lamented “most non-governmental organisations have aligned themselves with political parties and that is why they have lost credibility and every time they speak, people think they are speaking for a particular interest group.”
Ms Kambobe feels there are a lot of real issues that women movements can align themselves to, such as water and sanitation, and poverty which is greatly affecting women.
“There are real issues affecting a number of women, especially the peri-urban and rural women, who have not befitted much from gender equality crusades than always talking about politics,” she reckoned.
Ms Kambobe retired from active journalism and it was somewhat a blessing in disguise because of the few challenges she encountered after she got married.
“I used to work late nights and by the time I got home, I would find my children would be asleep; that was why I was tasked to cover courts,” she said.
Apart from advocating for women’s rights at home, Ms Kambobe had a chance to work in Senegal, Sudan and the United States (New York) where she participated in peace-missions.
She trained women in various skills from war-torn countries. She also trained and lobbied traditional leaders in Sudan to desist from marrying off young girls.
She, however, managed to reconcile her roles as a wife, mother and career woman because of her loving and understanding husband.
“I can call myself a lucky woman because my husband knew from the start the kind of a job I was involved. I think people should have relationships where there is understanding,” Ms Kambobe said.
Ms Kambobe, who is a devout Catholic and a member of the Women’s League; loves to farm and rear chickens during her spare time.