Charity Masambo Katanga is our newly appointed Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Operations, an Advocate of the High Court of Zambia.
She was born to Ubano Mwamba Masambo and Veronica Katongo in 1977 in Mporokoso as the fourth child in a family of five.
She is married to Mr Chola Katanga, the Police Commissioner for Central Province.
Mrs Katanga is a tough cop whom many people, including political party cadres, would dare not provoke. She means business!
In her recent interview with the Zambia Daily Mail, Mrs Katanga said she would rather die pursuing the course of justice and that “I don’t need to be liked but believe in doing what is right. Even in the midst of opposition, I will still stick to my principles; I would rather be like that”.
Her desire to pursue the course of justice for the Zambian people dates back to 1992 when she was a cadet officer at Linda Secondary School in Livingstone and she later got her first appointment in the Zambia Police Service as a constable. Mrs Katanga was posted to Chifubu Police Station in Ndola where she worked for nine years as a detective officer.
Mrs Katanga started her primary school at Broadway Primary School in Kabwe in 1983 and was there until her seventh grade. She proceeded to Caritas Convent Secondary School in Kabwe for her junior and part of senior secondary from 1990 to 1992.
She later went to Linda Secondary in Livingstone where she completed her senior secondary in 1994 and tried to join the Zambia Army the same year, but was not selected, despite successfully passing the physical training tests.
Two years later in 1996, she went to Lilayi Police College where she was recruited as constable and was posted to Chifubu Police Station in Ndola as her first appointment under the detective unit.
Several years later, she enrolled at the University of Zambia to study law. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Law in 2005 and later enrolled at the Zambia Institute of advanced Legal Education (ZIALE) and obtained her law practising license. So yes, she is an Advocate of the High Court.
She also obtained a Diploma in Legislative Drafting from ZIALE and later pursued a Masters in Law at UNZA.
Mrs Katanga has worked in the Police Service remarkably well in various police sections, among them being that of deputy division prosecutions officer (DPO) and in operations under late Wasakaza Ng’uni’s charge.
She has also worked at Police Service headquarters where she carried out a lot of criminal investigations before switching to the legal section as legal officer. She was then attached to the Attorney General’s office, serving under Judge Mumba Malila and later moved to the Director of Public Prosecutions Office during Justice Chalwe Muchenga’s reign.
Ms Katanga continued on the path of promotion through ranks this time as senior legal officer and later as professional standards officer in charge of prosecutions in the Zambia Police.
She was later upgraded to superintendent and senior superintendent. In 2010, she was again promoted to assistant Commissioner during the Rupiah Banda reign.
Soon after her promotion, she was again elevated to the position of Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of prosecutions in the country.
In 2011, Ms Katanga was again promoted as Lusaka Province police commissioner by then President Michael Sata who wanted to see more women in key decision-making positions.
By August 2012, she was moved to Southern Province in the same capacity and later was transferred to Northern Province until 2015 when she went back to Lusaka. In January of 2016, she was moved to the Copperbelt Province where she has been until her elevation to the position of Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Operations.
Credit: Zambia Daily Mail
