06/08/2026
IN HISTORY - ZAMBIAN WOMEN IN DIPLOMATIC SERVICE-JUSTICE LOMBE CHIBESAKUNDA
IN THIS PICTURE: A young Lombe Phyllis Chibesakunda aged 35 years is seen as Zambia's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom in March 1979.
Before being transferred to the United Kingdom, in 1975, while aged 31 years, President Kenneth Kaunda appointed her as Zambia's first Ambassador to Japan.
As Zambia's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. She took active part in the ground work for the Lancaster House talks which led to the independence of Zimbabwe. Signed on 21st December 1979, the Lancaster House Agreement declared a ceasefire, ending the Rhodesian Bush War. This directly led to the creation and recognition of the Republic of Zimbabwe.
She has been chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Zambia, Solicitor General, Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Legal Affairs, acting Chief Justice of Zambia, and has served as an Ambassador to Japan, the United Kingdom, the Vatican, and the Netherlands. She is the first woman president of the COMESA Court of Justice, in Khartoum, Sudan.
(Photo : Central Press/Getty Images)
(Contribution by Eugene Makai)
