Matembe on her love life: I’m not a factory to be managed

Speaking at Daily Monitor’s Full Woman Health Camp at the Kampala Serena Hotel where she was chief guest last Saturday, Dr. Miria Matembe had plenty of advice for women on “Finding fulfilment in the midst of our busy work and family life.”
Although she says her work in the public sphere was unrewarded, Matembe who was ethics minister for five years and Member of Parliament for 17 years and a member of the Pan African Parliament told the gathering of Daily Monitor readers, “I live for a purpose.”
Twelve years since she left public office, Matembe has remained busy and engaged, following her purpose in life.

“This is the twelfth year since I went to sit at home and when they ask me, I talk like the village women that I do not work but (I’m telling you) I leave my home in the morning and I get home at night. For what I do now, I do not earn but I can tell you that I am even busier than what I used to be,” she went on.
A happily married woman, Matembe was candid when speaking about her marriage and how she has been misunderstood owing to her vocal nature.

“Those who do not understand what it means to have an understanding relationship say, “How does this man manage this woman?”

To the skeptics, Matembe had this to say, “I am not a factory that needs management. I am not a project. I am not an office that you need to manage. I am a human being that needs to be understood and loved. I will begin to tell you how to manage your family by telling you never to desire to manage your spouse,” she said, adding, “You cannot (manage your spouse). You did not create him. You cannot manage him. All you need to do is to understand him and love him. My husband knows how to deal with me. In any case it is God who brought him into my life and brought me into his life, he has got to know how to deal with God’s gift to him,” she said to the mostly female audience.

“The second lesson is that what you see may not be what it is. God created me to be tough, to fight for you, not to fight men,” she said, amid laughter.

Matembe spoke from her heart, about the joy of “having it all”; a truly accomplished family and career woman, Matembe is not shy to own her accomplishments. “I’m telling you that I really have it all. The boys are married. I have six grandchildren including twins. I am already three generations; Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,” she said to applause.

The Full Woman camp featured many speakers including Dr Catherine Nanozi, a clinical nutritionist sharing recipes for weight loss and good health; Full Woman columnist Min Atek who shared her parenting experience as well as tips and tricks on raising children; Emma Mugisha, a career banker who spoke to women about strategies for career advancement and Ezra Napoleon, a psychologist and addition counsellor on drug addiction and prevention.