Former Zambian minister, DR DORA SILIYA, lifts the lid on the politics of her country. She reveals the vicious campaigns waged against her in the Zambian press and the accusations that she had slept her way to the top. In her book 'Minding My Father's Country' she recounts how she managed to navigate the turbulence of Zambian political life from a young age.

"Even just getting the party to adopt me, to put my name on the ballot paper..was so difficult. I just felt I was being discriminated because I'm a woman."

During her two decades in politics, DR SILIYA headed six ministries. "I had some of the worst headlines that you've ever heard of. I remember people saying the reason she's always appointed minister is because she uses her 'back power'."

At one point, she was even arrested: "I was arrested purely because I made a very tough decision, which I thought was the right decision, supported by two presidents, Levy Mwanawasa and Rupiah Banda. We needed to sell a stake in the national telecoms because it was not doing well...Even when the final transaction was done, I wasn't there at all. It was one of the saddest periods of my time."

Since writing the book, DORA says, many women have told her how afraid they are of entering Zambian politics. "It's too much because instead of issues, people believe that it must be about you the person."

Zambia, she says, is becoming increasingly polarised along ethnic, tribal lines, and this she contends, couold be catastrophic for the country that has enjoyed more than 60 years of peace. "I think for the first time in my life this tribal tension is is real...whether it's the Tongas versus the Bembas, the Bembas and the Easterners...it is quite dangerous. If we are not careful, this is the first time we would have a civil war in this country."

Corruption is another of DORA's concerns: "Corruption is endemic in Zambia...it has become such a way of life that people expect to pay at the traffic stop, they expect to pay to get their passport on time, they expect to pay somebody at the hospital to get an appointment quickly.."

Minding My Father's Country by Dora Siliya, Reach Publishers

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.