Dora Siliya (born October 8, 1970) is a politician in

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

. She was the member of parliament for Petauke Central from 2006 to 2021. During her political tenure, she served as the Deputy Minister of Commerce,

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

, Minister of Energy and Water Development,

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

and Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services.

Early years

She was born in

Kitwe Kitwe is the third largest city in terms of infrastructure development (after Lusaka and Ndola) and second largest city in terms of size and population (after Lusaka) in Zambia. With a population of 517,543 (''2010 census provisional'') Kitwe is ...

and went to school in

Mufulira Mufulira is a town in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. Mufulira means "Place of Abundance and Peace". The town developed around the Mufulira Copper Mine in the 1930s. The town also serves as the administrative capital of Mufulira District. G ...

. After graduating Kabulonga Girls secondary school in 1988, she commenced her studies at the

University of Zambia The University of Zambia (UNZA) is a public university located in Lusaka, Zambia. It is Zambia's largest and oldest learning institution. The university was established in 1965 and officially opened to the public on 12 July 1966. The language of ...

where she studied medicine. After two years, she left the University and began working a
Zambian Television and Radio (ZNBC)
then went back to university to study mass communication, while still employed at ZNBC. In 1996 she started work at the

South African Broadcasting Corporation The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is the public broadcaster in South Africa, and provides 19 radio stations (Amplitude modulation, AM/Frequency modulation, FM) as well as 6 television broadcasts and 3 OTT Services to the general ...

. In 1997 she graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree. She holds a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

development economics Development economics is a branch of economics that deals with economic aspects of the development process in low- and middle- income countries. Its focus is not only on methods of promoting economic development, economic growth and structural c ...

from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and PhD in Development Economics from University of Lusaka.

Career

Siliya became the television controller at ZNBC. She left ZNBC and was employed in a

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

project of ''Private Sector Development'' for two years.

Political Career

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, she was approached by the

Movement for Multi-Party Democracy The Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) also known as New Hope MMD is a political party in Zambia. Originally formed to oust the previous government, MMD controlled an absolute majority in parliament between 1991 and 2001, when its past lead ...

(MMD) to run for the National Assembly, which she did in

Petauke Petauke is a town and seat of Petauke District located in the Eastern Province of Zambia. Petauke is 400 km east of Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia, just off the Great East Road. The main spoken language of the 14,000 residents is Nseng ...

. She finished third out of six candidates and was then transferred to the Zambian embassy in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

working for the deputy ambassador and was mainly devoted to trade relations. In

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, she stood again as the parliamentary candidate for the MMD in Petauke (resulting in her not continuing her embassy appointment in Cairo) and she won the seat. She was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Commerce in the cabinet of President

Levy Mwanawasa Levy Patrick Mwanawasa (3 September 1948 – 19 August 2008) was the third president of Zambia. He served as president from January 2002 until his death in August 2008. Mwanawasa is credited with having initiated a campaign to rid the corrupti ...

after the 2006 election. In February 2008, Mwanawasa appointed Siliya as the Minister of Transport, Works, Supply and Communication. In April 2009, after a tribunal found that Siliya had ignored the Attorney General's advice on a certain matter, she decided to resign from her role as transport and communication minister. In June 2009, President

Rupiah Banda Rupiah Bwezani Banda (19 February 1937 – 11 March 2022) was a Zambian politician who served as the fourth president of Zambia from 2008 to 2011, taking over from Levy Mwanawasa. Banda was an active participant in politics from early in the pres ...

appointed her as the Minister of Education. At the 2011 election, she stood again as the MMD candidate in Petauke Central and won the seat. However, in June 2013, her election victory was nullified by the

Supreme Court of Zambia The Supreme Court of Zambia is the country's apex court on all matters, except those related to the constitution. Until 2016, the court was the highest court on all matters, but following the adoption of a new constitution in 2016, the Consti ...

. The subsequent by-election only took place on 30 June 2015 after long legal disputes.Parley receives three new Members of Parliament , National Assembly of Zambia
/ref> In May 2015, Siliya had resigned from the MMD in order to join the Patriotic Front (PF) and so, she stood in the Petauke Central by-election on 30 June 2015 as the PF candidate and retained her seat. She was then appointed as the Minister of Energy and Water Development in October 2015 by President

Edgar Lungu Edgar Chagwa Lungu (11 November 1956 – 5 June 2025) was a Zambian politician who served as the sixth president of Zambia from 26 January 2015 to 24 August 2021. Under President Michael Sata, Lungu served as Minister of Justice and Minister ...

. At the 2016 election, she stood again as the PF candidate in Petauke Central and retained her seat. She was appointed as the

just after the 2016 election before being appointed the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services and government spokesperson in February 2018. At the 2021 general election, she stood again as the Patriotic Front candidate in Petauke Central and finished second to independent candidate Jay Emmanuel Banda.Results for the 2021 parliamentary elections - Electoral Commission of Zambia
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siliya, Dora 1970 births Women government ministers of Zambia Movement for Multi-Party Democracy politicians Patriotic Front (Zambia) politicians University of Zambia alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge Living people Transport ministers of Zambia Agriculture ministers of Zambia Energy ministers of Zambia Education ministers of Zambia Information ministers of Zambia