Dr Fridah Kazembe: Zambia’s first female brigadier general.

Dr Fridah Kazembe: Zambia’s first female brigadier general.
Written by Mwala Kalaluka
Sunday, January 25, 2009 7:16:57 AM

ZAMBIA Army’s first woman brigadier general, Fridah Kazembe says soldiers are not animals. Brig Gen Kazembe, who is commandant at Lusaka’s Maina Soko Military Hospital, says simply because somebody is in the army does not mean that they are immoral.

“It does not mean that they are no longer human beings, simply because they have decided to join the army. If somebody is in the army they have their integrity,” she says.

“People must appreciate these people. To say that simply because I have a profession of this nature does not mean that I am any less human and people out there… the army is very religious. It is a very religious place and we hold religion very highly in the army and even when they are in the bush, the chaplain is there to ensure that people are moral and they hold their Christian values highly.”

Brig Gen Kazembe now talks about her life in the army.

Q: We would like to thank you for giving us this rare opportunity to talk with you and I would like to welcome you to his interview. Before we proceed, give us your brief background.

A: My full names are Fridah Sakala Kazembe. I am the first born daughter of Reverend Thomas Mwanza and Mrs Margaret Mwanza. I was born in 1954, Silamba Village, chief Msoro and I am the first born in the family of 13. I had two sisters and the rest were boys. I went to St Marys’ School in Msoro until grade seven and we were that group that was combined grade seven and standard six. We wrote the exam together. So we did a combined exam that was 1966, then 67, I went to St. Monica’s Secondary School in Chipata and then I was there until I finished my form five and I came to the University of Zambia in 1971. That is where I studied for seven years.

Q: What were you studying?

A: I studied medicine and at University of Zambia.

After four years I got my bachelor of science and thereafter got a bachelor in medicine for one year. I did my internship at the University Teaching Hospital and after the internship, I came to join…I came to report to the Army.

Q: When did you complete at the University of Zambia, if I could take you back?

A: 1979 and that is when I came to UTH. I was at UTH for one year doing internship after which I came to the army.

Q: Did you do any other extra military training before joining the army?

A: I had joined as an officer in 1977, as a medical student, so I was already a cadet before I completed. I was already an officer cadet and after the internship I went to report to the army.

Q: But why did you choose to become an officer cadet while still at school?

A: Well, they were recruiting medical students. So that is how I got recruited as a medical student.

Q: Did you undergo any training?

A: The training was done after medical school. After the internship I came and I was posted to 2ZR in Arakan; that is where I was and I was the Garrison medical officer there and from there, that is when I was sent to military training. I went to Livingstone for military training and we did it together with the air force personnel.

Q: How long were you in Livingstone?

A: I was in Livingstone from September till the following year March. It is about six months of training. I came back to 2ZR at the same position as Garrison Medical Officer.

Q: Now you can continue from there and tell us how you progressed.

A: So from 2ZR, I got married soon after joining as Garrison Medical Officer and so I had to go to New York to join my husband because he was in the diplomatic service.

Q: Before you continue on that line, just tell us who your husband is?

A: He is Elias Kazembe and we were together at campus. He did economics and we met on campus at the University of Zambia. When we met, I think I was in second year and we did not get married until I finished. So I was with him in New York, I continued studying. I did not stop studying…I did my masters in public health. Then I started working on my masters on medicine. At the time that I started my masters of medicine; post-graduate masters of medicine, my husband was transferred to Canada, just across, but then I continued in New York and then when he was in Canada, he was recalled to come back to Zambia. So when he was recalled that would have been very difficult for me to manage at least Canada was nearby. I could go over the weekend and see my children and come back.

Q: You had children by that time!

A: I had children, yes, and three children. I went to New York in 1981. We were in the States until 1988 and we moved to Canada and then we came back from Canada back to Zambia in 1990. I have three children as I have said. The first one is Innocent, the second one is Chalwe and the last one is Nkula Nathan. Innocent is in Botswana and he is working there as an animation specialist. Chalwe is in medical school. She is doing medicine and Nkula is doing mining engineering at the University.

Q: When you came back to Zambia, did you rejoin the Zambia Army?

A: Yes, I had been on leave. I was on unpaid leave all the time I was away but I was in contact so that they know what I was doing.

Q: So you were on leave for about nine years?

A: Yes. So when I came back, I just came and reported that I am back and I restarted my job (laughs).

Q: Were you still a Garrison Medical Officer or what?

A: No…I had enhanced my qualifications. I had masters in public health and I was in the process of doing my post-graduate training in medicine. So what I did, immediately I came, I joined the post-graduate training in medicine at the University of Zambia. I continued so that I could finish what I had started and so I was attached to UTH but then I still had to give service to the army through Maina Soko. I used to conduct clinics in Maina Sako and do rounds in Maina Soko but I was attached to UTH. So after I finished my post-graduate training at UTH, I was fully in Maina Soko, initially as senior registrar and then consultant physician. When I came fully…I think that was 1998.

Q: But who inspired you to join the army as a medical professional at the time you completed at the University? How many women were joining just as you did?

A:..when I joined as medical officer, there were a lot of nurses that joined in, as officer cadets at that time. I was the only female medical doctor that joined at that time. The other medical doctors were interested but I think when the came and they got the conditions of service they got discouraged and chickened out. I guess its just wanting to serve I guess. I do not know…I do not know, but it was exciting that time so I joined.

Q: What was exciting when the conditions were not conducive?

A: I do not know but I felt that I could have a career and that is how I joined at that time.

Q: Can you now tell us how you rose through the ranks at the Maina Soko Military Hospital, from a consultant physician to the position you hold today?

A: Well, once I became a Colonel there was no other rank, anyway, other than just to work. So I worked with a lot of patience. At the time I came back from New York I was a Captain. I had joined at the rank of Captain and when I came I was still a Captain and therefore, given the fact that so many years had passed I was given the rank of a temporal major and then confirmed as a major and then from there, temporary Lieutenant Colonel, then a Colonel.

Q: This was within a space of how many years?

A: It took a bit of time, because remember, I had lost about 10 years from the time I joined and then came back from the States. By the time I came back, all my friends had gone. They were now Colonels and above. In 1998 I was still a Lieutenant Colonel up until 2000 that is when I became a full Colonel.

Q: Now, tell us how you rose to your current position from there?

A: What has inspired me at Maina Soko is giving care to the patients and I was in-charge of the wards. So taking care of the patients in the wards and then doing clinics and then after I had been here for some years, I became deputy Commandant to the then Commandant and then became Commandant of the Hospital after the Commandant retired. I became Commandant last year, 2008 in September. I was still a Colonel. Well, I continued giving service really, and giving administration while taking care of the patients.

Q: You have told us that you enjoy giving care to the patients but have things improved over the years?

A: Well, things have improved over the years but things are also changing, isn’t it? When we started off…I remember when I started off as a junior doctor at that time we used to get K200 take home. So K200 was my take home at that time but now our junior doctors get more than the K200 that we used to get. So things have improved but again things have become equally expensive. So maybe even though the numbers seems to be better but then the money does not seem to buy as much than what our K200 used to buy.

Q: It is now an open secret that you are no longer a Colonel, tell us how you were promoted to the current position of Brigadier General?

A: There are many things that I have done and…I do not know…there are a lot of things that I could have done that led them consider me for the rank of Brigadier General?

Q: How many levels do you have for you to reach the top most rank, if that were possible?

A: The next level is a major general, then lieutenant general, then a general.

Q: Are there women in Zambia that have reached that level?

A: No…Well, to begin with this was profession for men and as women we joined quite later into the Zambia Army and we joined as professionals. We came in either as doctors or as nurses and therefore, I think because we joined as professional we actually do not compete on the other side because we came in specifically as professionals. It is only later really that they started recruiting women in the regular, who can then be infantry and be able to compete on that level.

Q: But why has this kind of chauvinism existed in the army?

A: It is not really chauvinism. I guess that is what it was like. In most armies it used to be men and the women would just come in as professional helpers, as nurses, doctors, specific professional areas. That is where the women would actually be involved but when it came to the fighting basically, I think it was a men’s job. Historically you did not expect women to actually join the army and it was a man sort of area and therefore, I think we came on board quite late and that possibly explains why maybe we do not have many of us who have been able to rise to this level.

Q: What have been the major sticking points that could have hampered your quick progression to your current rank?

A: Well, there are many. To begin with just the fact that I got married and I had to go away for nine years. That means I lost 10 years along the way, you know. Whilst my friends were progressing, I was doing another job (laughs) of taking care of the family. That in, itself, was something that could possibly explain why it has taken that long.

Q: Are you telling us that given your professional ability, you could have risen to that position a long time back?

A: Yes. Had it not been the fact that I lost about 12 years, if you count it all.

Q: How were you notified of your recent profession?

A: I think the Defence Counsel sat and then I think they made their appointment over the weekend and I was called to say that there is good news at Command Post. Somebody in Arakan Barracks called and told me that there was good news and I said what? The other Sunday not this Sunday and so I am like what, I have not seen anything? But maybe you will eventually see the promotion or the signal that came in. So when I came to the office on Monday that is when I saw it in writing.

Q: How did you feel?

A:Well…I was surprised…yaaa…because when you reach my age really some of these things you do not expect them. You say all my life it has not happened. So…Well I said well the Lord is in control and he has taken care of this one.

I know it is giving hope to others and some people thought that it was a no go area. I think this has given a lot of women hope that actually you can rise and that all you need is the best and what you need is the right qualifications and you will be able to compete with the men in the field. All you need is to have the right qualifications, the ability to do the job and you should be able to be given the job.

Q: I heard you talking about God, are you a Christian?

A: I am Christian yes. I am an Anglican. I am very active in the church. Well, I am very active in the church and I find myself being involved in many aspects of the church. I am with the Mothers’ Union in the Church and I am the president of the Mothers’ Union for the Lusaka Diocese and before that I had been the chairperson at Cathedral of the Holy Cross for many years for the Mothers’ Union. I have been on the council for the Cathedral; the council that runs the activities of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and I am a member of the standing committee, which runs the affairs of the church in the whole diocese. I am involved with the women, teaching the youths and doing health services for the church. We go to rural areas examine people and even in the church I am involved in preventive health care.

Q: Going by your profession, are you involved in any area of research?

A: Yes. I am a member of the National Research Committee in the country, which coordinates in the country and ensure that we check on what is happening around the country and I am involved in research myself. I do my own research and I have been involved in a number of researches involving the sub-region and so I have been quite active in research because I believe that is where most answers come from and with the things that we do if you do not do research then you do not know what you are doing.

I have done research in HIV/AIDS, meningitis, cancer for the cervix, maternal mortality and currently I am involved in finding a way of helping women who have postpartum haemorrhage. To a layperson, postpartum haemorrhage is condition where after delivering a baby women usually have complications of bleeding. So right now we are involved in a programme to find a way of helping women not to go into shock as a result of haemorrhage.

Q: What issues are coming out from this research you are doing on postpartum haemorrhage?

A: We are hoping to find a solution, really, to help the women so that even when they have postpartum haemorrhage at least that haemorrhage does not leave them to die because our mortality rates are very high and that has to reduce.

Q: Are there any extra short courses that you have done during this period you have spent at Maina Soko?

A: I have done disaster management. I did a course on disaster management and so I have a certificate on disaster management. I have also done courses in HIV management, malaria management and I have hospital management courses; how to manage a hospital, health care financing and I have done quite a bit of travelling as well to attend various conferences. I have attended conferences on the prevention of cancer of the cervix, women conferences like I attended a conference on human resource for health care, just to make sure that we have got enough doctors and nurses in Africa to take care of our patients and prevent the brain drain that is happening in this part of the world. I have been privileged to be part of that conference that sought to find a solution to the health crisis that we have, where we have our health care providers going away from Africa. So I have been part and parcel of that crew. Then I went and attended the Women Deliver Conference, where we are looking at women’s issues to find out how we can reduce maternal mortality. So I was privileged to have participated in that and…I think those are some of the courses I have attended.

Q: What are your views on the issue of the brain drain having left the country for the USA after you were trained at the expense of taxpayers?

A: My conscience was bugging that I must come back and that is why I came back, actually. If my conscience was going to say that I could actually go and should not have remorse over my country, I would not have possibly come back. I kept holding on to the fact that I was trained by the Zambian government and I was to pay back the Zambian government for the training that I had, for the experience that I had. The skills that I have is as a result of the Zambian government investing in me and therefore, I have to provide health care to the Zambians. Well, I believe that those people that go out there need to look backwards and see how we can make this pasture green. We should be looking; what is it that we can do there to make this environment greener in order for them to come back because home is always home. Regardless of how many years you are going to go out, you will still come back anyway. So if you have not created an environment for you to come back to, where are you going to go? Is there any place that you can go to other than home? Because, I mean I have worked in other parts of the world but it is not the same like being at home. Okay, you can get the money but money is not everything in my profession. You need the satisfaction to say you are doing good and you are helping somebody’s life to be better and if that aspect is not there, you are getting the money but you feel that you are not actually contributing to the development of your country, then you are missing out on something. You must be part and parcel of the development process. How many people are privileged to get the kind of education that we have? They are very few individuals out there that have been privileged to get the kind of training that I have. There are not many out there that have the kind of post-graduate training that I have.

Q: Are you imparting this knowledge that you have on other upcoming medical professionals?

A: Yes. I am an honorary lecturer with the University of Zambia. I give lecturers and clinical teaching to the students. I have been doing this since 1990. So at least I have helped many to be what they are.

Q: The Zambia Army being an institution that is involved in disaster management, how involved is you in this framework?

A: Yaa…I was actually chairperson of the Disaster Committee on Medical Services. We did come up with some plans for the country. I was actually involved in MEDFLOOD; a disaster management team that went to Morocco for six weeks in the desert in 2003. We were in Moroccan desert. Initially it was a simulation of a disaster. It was a simulation of a flood and we went with the American team. It was a simulation but what happened is that soon after that, they had actual floods. When we went, it was to train the people out there how to deal with a disaster, how to manage people and I think they were well prepared by the time that disaster was happening. At least they had actually participated in that simulation that we went to do. Then what happened is that after we had done the training, we had to provide health care. So we provided health care to many during that visit who had possibly not received health care for many years. So it was quite a good experience in the desert actually, and living in a country like this one you have to live there just to appreciate Zambia, just how beautiful this country is.

Well, as an institution the Zambia Army is well conversant with disaster management and the training is such that it prepares you to deal with disasters. So just being an army personnel actually prepares you to deal with disasters. It is part and parcel of your training. When you go to do more training, it is just to polish up on what you possibly already know as an army person.

Q: Apart from working at Maina Soko, are there any places outside Lusaka where you have worked?

A: I have worked in a number of areas. I was in Monze, I think, in 90, 94 to 95. I was working at Monze Mission Hospital from UTH, as part of the post-graduate training. Monze was of course a different environment completely, it being a mission hospital. The environment was a bit different from the environment where I am now. It was a small institution; everything of course was quite compact. You have to be quite close to your patients because it is a small environment where everybody seems to know whatever everyone else is doing and it was a good experience being able to manage with limited resources, as compared to some places where you have scans whatsoever. Well, I learnt the language. I learnt a bit of Tonga so that I could just be able to communicate with the patients.

Q: What inspiration based on what you have achieved, do you want to leave for your children?

A: I have always told my children that whatever you do, do your best, put in your best regardless of how small it looks. When you do your best, do not do your best today and tomorrow you do not do your best. It must be persistent. It must be consistent that you do your best every single day so that people notice that when this person does a job it is done properly and it produces results. They must persevere and nothing should stop them and they learnt that. There are so many things that would have pulled me away from work but I have persevered through that.

Q: There is negative perception where people feel it is not right to marry somebody in the army because they are too mobile. What is your view on this perception?

A: Well, it is not correct. The people in the army are human beings, they are not animals. They are human beings; they have got values, they have got morals. Simply because somebody is in the army does not mean that they are immoral. It does not mean that they are no longer human beings, simply because they have decided to join the army. If somebody is in the army, they have their integrity. They need their respect and they must be held accountable for whatever it is that they do. People must appreciate these people, to say that simply because I have a profession of this nature it does not mean that I am any less human and people out there the army is very religious. It is a very religious place and we hold religion very highly in the army and even when they are in the bush, the chaplain is there to ensure that people are moral and they hold their Christian values highly. So I know that because they are rough and whatever, that they are expected to be rough in all areas. They have their morals very highly and the integrity is not something that we actually maintain of ourselves.

Q: Finally, what is your word of thanks to the Defence Council over your promotion?

A: I personally, would like to thank the President most sincerely, as the Commander-in-chief for considering me as a woman, through giving me a chance in a domain that is basically a man domain and for him considering that I was qualified enough. I had the expertise. I had the experience. I was honest. I had the loyalty to this country and therefore deserve to be given a chance to hold the position that I have and to be promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. So, I certainly thank the President and thank all members of the Defence Council for having out their heads together to have decided to promote me and also decided to give me a chance. What they have done is historical. It is history and what it shows women out there is that if you can do your best and you can perform and have the appropriate qualifications and you work persistently, people will notice. If I can do it, it means even the other women can do it if they have the appropriate qualifications. They can also get to this appointment and this position that I have reached.

Q: Well, Brigadier General Dr Kazembe let me thank you for according us this opportunity to talk to you and we wish you well in your new position.

A: Well, thank you very much.