25/02/2021
BRENDA MUNTEMBA SICHILEMBE
Brenda was born in Kitwe, to parents Bradley Chesters Muntemba and Hilary Mulenga. Bradley was an officer in the Zambia Police Service, he died as assistant commissioner of police, central province at the age of 48 years. Hilary served as commissioner on the Mwanakatwe and Mung'omba Constitutional Review commissions.
Brenda was the second of three girls.Owing to the fact that her father, Bradley Chesters Muntemba was a police officer, Brenda and her two sisters, Hazel and Priscilla, attended many primary schools around Zambia, i.e., North Rise in Ndola, Lotus, Northmead and Jacaranda in Lusaka, Hillside in Chipata, and Livingstone Primary in Livingstone.
Brenda completed her secondary education at Roma Girls Secondary School in Lusaka in1987 and then went to University of Zambia (UNZA) where she studied French and Economics from 1988 to 1992.
After her degree, Brenda worked as a secondary school teacher for a few years and concurrently taught French at Alliance Francaise and was also a part-time radio presenter for Radio Phoenix and Christian Voice. She later obtained a Master's Degree in French and English and qualified as an interpreter during a two-year stay in France sponsored by the French Embassy.
It was her father's work with the police force that provided the motivation Brenda needed to join the force at age 26, a year after his death.She joined a team of 63 graduates in the police academy and began her career as the Assistant Superintendent.
After training, Brenda did a year of orientation where she rotated through all the sections of the police service. She found the Criminal Investigation Department to be one of her favourite postings and for a while she considered pursuing that line of work.
She was made Officer-in-Charge at Riverside Police Station in her hometown of Kitwe. Brendaheld other significant positions including that of Police Spokesperson, Instructor at the Police Training College and Chief Superintendent or Director, Heritage and Corporate Image, one of only a handful of women to hold such positions.
Brenda was appointed Police Commissioner, Southern Province in 2011 alongside five other senior police women commissioners. In 2012, Brenda went back to police headquarters as
Commissioner Operations. Her stay as Commissioner Operations was short-lived, as she was transferred to Cabinet Office following politically motivated misgivings. During this time, the Cabinet Office assigned her to the Ministry of Education as Zambia's Chief Programmes Officer for UNESCO (July 2013 – Feb 2015), a position that constantly took her back to her country of language training, France.
On 2nd February 2015, His Excellency President Edgar Lungu appointed her into foreign service, subsequently retiring her from the Zambia Police Service. Brenda took her oath of office for the role on the 22nd of April 2015, as President Lungu inducted her as the High Commissioner to Kenya.
Brenda married Reverend Sulanji Andrew Sichilembe on 27 October 2006, at Lusaka's Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Cross. She was later ordained as a pastor on 30th December 2012, by Apostle Gift Ntitima at the under Jesus is Life Church, Lusaka.
Muntemba authored and published four motivational books, under Langmead and Baker; Off Dutty (2011) In Retrospect (2013), Secrets Unveiled (2015) and The Architect (2018).
Muntemba was involved in a head-on road collision on 26 February 2019 and was admitted to hospital where she died on 19 March 2019. She was 48.
