A Zambian Sports Journalist

Diana Mutakafimbo is a sports reporter for the Zambia Daily Mail, one of Zambia’s leading national daily newspapers. She seeks to mentor and empower young female athletes to become successes inside and outside of sports.

Growing up in Ndola, Diana never imagined she’d make a career for herself in sports. While she was on attachment at the Times of Zambia, she was placed at the sports desk, where she initially struggled. Thanks to the mentorship of a senior female sports reporter, Brenda Katongola, she persevered to become one of Zambia’s most prominent sports journalists. She most recently covered the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, and has previously reported from the Youth Olympics and CAF Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

In Zambia, sports remain a male-dominated field. Gender inequality surfaces in many ways, particularly sexual abuse scandals and cultural pressure to quit sports for domestic life. In her work, she strives to cover the story of female athletes and provide them a level of recognition that improves their career prospects, and normalizes women’s sports for the Zambian public. She uses her column, “Rising Stars,” to share stories of women such as Catherine Phiri, a former WBC Bantamweight champion and the first Zambian woman to win a major professional boxing belt, who went on to earn a scholarship to study sport management in Italy thanks to her sporting achievements.

By participating in the GSMP, Diana is gaining the support she needs to develop a grassroots organization for women’s empowerment through sports, in order to create more success stories like Catherine Phiri in Zambia.

Diana is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in international relations and development from Mulungushi University, and earned a diploma in public relations from the National Institute of Public Administration and certificate in journalism from Evelyn Hone College. In addition to her work at the Daily Mail, Diana serves on the board of directors of Special Olympics Zambia, where she oversees media. Outside of work, she enjoys gardening, aerobics and spending time in the countryside.