Miria Matembe: Speaking out loudly for justice and fairness

She advocated for women the right to divorce impotent husbands, crusaded for castration of defilers and held her own against certain vices as Minister of Ethics and Integrity. All these, with passion, energy and a voice as loud as she could master, writes Brian Mugabo

There is a Luganda proverb about voicing grievances to the road instead of the market where one was cheated. Consistently standing up instead of standing by when she feels a situation needs to be corrected, Miria Matembe does not count among the people for whom it was invented.

A random example is her remarks during the launch of the Citizens Crusade this year on January 19, at st. Peter’s Secondary School, Nsambya. “When I arrived here, I asked Kwesigwa (Professor Pascal), “Do you think you should still be alive? See, the out-of-Egypt generation had to die off before Israel could reach the promised land. Similarly, you who witnessed the first one will not be the ones leading Uganda to achieving the objectives of Independence,” she quipped.

A bag of mixed fortunes
It is such fearless, straight-talking activism that has earned her a gallery of adjectives, ranging from professional controversialist, political evangelist, senior concerned citizen, avantgarde preacher, through to good governance consultant, bitter-truths vendor, moralist and women-rights activist.
Most are qualities Uganda still needs, even though she has received mixed fortunes from exercising them before. For instance, while she received a Dr Sarah Ntiro Award in 2011 for advocating girl child education without fear or favour’, in 2003, Matembe lost her position as Cabinet Minister of Ethics and Integrity after she opposed the move to amend the constitution and abolish presidential term limits.

It was a brave gesture from one who began her political career as Secretary for Mass Mobilisation and Education in Kampala during the early days of the National Resistance Movement, in whose government she had spent 16 years as a Constituent Assembly delegate, Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister.

She had also been involved in making the 1995 Constitution. Publicly voicing disagreement with her own party’s position took guts, especially when it seemed to invite political martyrdom as was the result for her.

Uganda continuing debate about the succession question and term limits makes her pioneer and continuing efforts admirable, especially as she voiced her dissent long before it became fashionable to do so.

She advocated for women the right to divorce impotent husbands, and held her own against certain vices as Minister of Ethics and Integrity. Never one for fence-sitting, she maintained all that fell under her philosophy of women rights activism.

A purpose-driven life
“When I joined politics, I had a very clear and specific goal – to espouse the cause for gender-quality and empowerment of women, particularly in the legal field. It was my childhood dream to have a public platform on which I could talk about women, talk for women, and talk with women.

This shaped my ambition to study law and to later become a parliamentarian,” she told the African Women Leaders Project, whose mission is to garner greater public confidence in women leaders and their participation in politics. For the most part, she has succeeded on both the local and global scenes.

She co-founded Action for Women Development (ACFODE), a leading women’s advocacy organisation, and has given lectures like the 2006 Women, War and Peace: Politics in Peacebuilding at the University of San Diego’s Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice Distinguished Lecture Series, a forum for high-level international leaders to share perspectives on issues related to promoting peace with justice.

In all this, she distances herself from the feminist tag, even though it describes her work perfectly. “In Africa, people think when you are a feminist you are a rebel who is busy breaking down marriages and destroying families. So, we call ourselves activists, and don’t worry about the word because the work is the same,” Matembe reported to the Women’s InterCultural Network in 2001.

In one such infamous episode, she advocated the castration of rapists, citing “improper use of their potentially dangerous instruments”. One of those who took her advice seriously was Mbarara’s Angelina Kyomugisha, after 40-year old George Mugarura defiled her 10-year old daughter. She cut off his penis, igniting debate between those who thought he deserved tougher measures and those who labeled it an act of lawlessness.

It was a timely debate about a crime that is universally the most committed and valid for as long as Ugandans believe the law is too slow and crooked as a method of ensuring justice.

An vocal force in parliament
In Uganda’s own parliament she stood up to the men’s club atmosphere, refusing to be treated as an intruder and claiming her right to be heard, not merely seen. The resultant friction earned her tags like “the alarm clock”, for her ability to wake up sleeping MPs by the vocal and intellectual force of her advocacy, especially as related to prohibiting sexist remarks and promoting gender-neutral language.

Overall, Uganda shall be grateful for the consistency of her views, and the knowledgeable steadfastness with which she defends and advocates them. With Uganda’s dire shortage of politicians who lead by example, Miria Matembe’s example remains newsworthy for mostly positive reasons.

FACTFILE
Born August 28th 1953
Married to Nick Matembe
Author; Gender, Politics, and Constitution Making in Uganda (2002)
Panelist on NTV show Men
Founder, Centre For Women in Governance (CEWIGO)
Has a Bachelor of Laws, Makerere University
Has a Master of Laws, Development University of Warwick,United Kingdom.
Women Waging Peace Network Member
2006 Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow with the National Endowment for Democracy, USA
1990 Deputy General of the Pan-African Congress held in Kampala.
Lecturer on Law and English at the Chartered institute of Bankers.
Minister of State for Ethics and Integrity (1998-2003)
Co-founder, Action For Development (ACFODE)
Member, Uganda Author’s Forum.
Certified Trainer of Trainers from the Eastern and Southern Management Institute (Arusha)
Women Management and Development Planning Certification from the Eastern and Southern Management Institute