More than sixteen years after fleeing the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), wanted by an armed group that she helped to unmask, Debora Kayembe is preparing to become rector of the venerable University of Edinburgh, which will be for the first once ruled by a black person. Since then the lawyer, now 45, has sought asylum in the UK, started a family and moved to Scotland, where she specializes in rights cases. humans.
Despite her career, the political activist believes that nothing had prepared her to be offered to take the head of the University of Edinburgh, founded in the XVIe century. In November 2020, she was approached to find out if she would consider taking the job. She agreed, though she thought her chances were slim. Her appointment left her speechless. “It’s something I never imagined, never looked for, she told AFP. It happened on a set. “
Several months before her appointment, Debora Kayembe found herself embroiled in a conflict that she had initially wanted to avoid. She had been a victim of racism before in Scotland, but the attacks came to a head in June 2020, amid global mobilization against racism after the death of George Floyd, a black American who died during his arrest by police in the United States. United. Debora Kayembe was on her way to a professional meeting when her car violently left the road. Upon inspecting the vehicle, she realized that spikes had been put on all four tires. “The previous times, I could sleep peacefully, she explains. Sometimes you have to sit back and let things go, but what happened to me that day is unacceptable. “
She recounted what had happened on social media. But rather than seeking confrontation, she chose to adopt a message of tolerance and dialogue with her attackers. “I told them: listen, these things are part of the past, we have moved beyond that, if you still don’t understand, we will have to talk. That was my message. Nothing else. “
Slave dance
Soon after, her daughter returned from school in tears: a teacher had asked her to do a slave dance in front of her classmates. After explanations with the school, she started a petition for the Scottish Parliament to urgently address racism in the education system. Parliament agreed, the issue will be debated in the coming months.
It is precisely this message of dialogue and tolerance that caught the attention of the University of Edinburgh, which counts prime ministers, Nobel Prize winners and Olympic athletes among its former students. “They told me that as rector of the university my message would go far and that the whole world would listen. ” According to Debora Kayembe, born in Kinshasa and raised by her uncle, a doctor, her family in the DRC was overwhelmed with emotion upon hearing the news: “There is a sense of national pride, they are waiting for the inaugural ceremony this summer to come to Scotland to see it with their own eyes. “
Its priority after its installation, the 1er March, will be to ensure that the university attracts “The brightest minds in Scotland” to help him recover from the coronavirus. The pandemic had the virtue of opening up possibilities for distance education, an opportunity for Africa, according to Debora Kayembe. Member of the Congolese bar since 2000, she has not returned to her country since she fled. There, his life is still in danger. Through her role as rector, she hopes to be able to promote better education for the continent. “Africa needs education, the best education, she emphasizes. My role will be to make sure it’s high on the agenda. “
