Former Zambian minister DORA SILIYA lifts the lid on the politics of her country. In her book 'Minding My Father's Country' she reveals how she managed to navigate the turbulence of Zambian political life from a young age. "Even just getting the party to adopt me, to put my name on the ballot paper...was so difficult...I just felt I was being discriminated because I'm a woman."

DR SILIYA headed six ministries in her 20 year political career. She was attacked in the media, personally insulted and accused of sleeping her way to the top. "I had some of worst headlines that you've ever heard of. I remember people saying the reason she's always appointed minister is because she uses her back power."

She was even arrested at one point. "I was arrested purely because I made a very tough decision, which I thought was the right decision, supported by two presidents, Levy Mwanawasa and then Rupiah Banda. We needed to sell a stake in the national telecoms because it was not doing well....Even when the final transaction was done, I wasn't there at all. It was one of the saddest periods of my time."

Since writing the book many women, says Dr SILIYA, have told her how afraid they are of entering Zambian politics. "It's too much because instead of issues, people believe that it must be about you the person."

If she had her time again, would she do things differently? "No, I would not", she says emphatically, "I feel that I was at the right place at the right time. And if somebody needed to be one of the pioneers, well, why not me? But it was not easy. It was very lonely. It was isolating. It was difficult."

Zambia, says DORA, is becoming increasingly polarised along ethnic, tribal lines, and this she says, could be catastrophic for the country that has enjoyed more than sixty years of peace. "I think for the first time in my life this tribal tension is real...whether it is the Tongas versus the Bembas, the Bembas and the Easterners...It is quite dangerous. If we are not careful. This is the first time we would have a civil war in this country..."

Corruption is another of DORA's concerns: " Corruption is endemic in Zambia...It has become such a way of life that people expect to pay at the traffic stop, they expect to pay to get their passport on time, they expect to pay somebody at the hospital to get an appointment quickly...."

DORA SILIYA'S book: Minding My Father's Country published by Reach Publishers.