As Reverend Dr. Suzanne Matale steps down as the General Secretary of the Council of Churches of Zambia (CCZ), she reflects on a decade promoting justice, fairness and equality.

Reverend Dr. Suzanne Matale

“Coming here was not the easiest of things,” she recalled.  “People judged me purely because I was a woman, instead of my ability to do the job. This to me reflected the church being very patriarchal. To this day there are some churches who do not believe that a woman can be clergy. I knew that I had to perform, I knew that I had to deliver, I knew that I had to work well with the people.”

While her tenure was challenged from the very beginning, it was never a question of her competence. Ten years ago, Rev. Matale outperformed 13 other candidates – all of them men – only for the appointing authorities to decide the position of CCZ General Secretary was too important to be held by a woman.

Read more about Reverend Dr. Suzanne Matale HERE..