Woman of the Week: Dr Precious Sibiya, a Leader Beyond the Uniform

By Southerton Business Times Reporter, Harare

From military service to the corridors of government, the legal profession and corporate boardrooms, Dr Precious Sibiya has built a career defined by versatility, leadership and a commitment to public service.

An award-winning business mentor, retired Army Captain, legal practitioner and author, Sibiya represents a generation of Zimbabwean women whose professional journeys cut across sectors traditionally dominated by men. Her story is one of multiple identities: the military officer who understood discipline and command, the lawyer who navigated legislation and public administration, the corporate leader entrusted with governance responsibilities, and the woman who has chosen to share her personal struggles through the written word.

For Southerton Business Times’ Woman of the Week series, Sibiya’s journey offers a look at a professional whose experience spans security, labour and employment law, social welfare, tourism, hospitality, human rights, humanitarian law and intellectual property.

From the military to public service

Sibiya’s professional journey includes service in the Zimbabwe National Army, where she held responsibilities that combined military discipline with legal and administrative expertise.

Her military career included service as a platoon commander, work in internal auditing and a later appointment as Principal Legal Officer in the Army’s Directorate of Legal Services.

In the legal services role, she was involved in court-martial prosecutions, military law education, constitutional law and the law of armed conflict. Her responsibilities also included providing legal advice to the defence forces and working on matters involving human rights and humanitarian law. These experiences provided a foundation for her subsequent work in government, where legal interpretation, policy development and institutional accountability became central to her responsibilities.

Between 2007 and 2018, Sibiya served as Director of Legal Services in the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare. Her duties included advising the ministry on legislation, supporting policy formulation, negotiating contracts and liaising with the Attorney-General’s Office on proposed laws and other legal matters.

She later served as Director of Legal Services in the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, a position that brought together her legal expertise and growing involvement in tourism-sector administration. Her work included advising ministry departments, supporting legislative development and helping address the sector’s legal and regulatory obligations.

A career built on knowledge and governance

Sibiya’s academic qualifications reflect her wide-ranging professional interests. She holds a Bachelor of Laws Honours degree from the University of Zimbabwe and a Master’s degree in Intellectual Property from Africa University. Her additional training includes leadership and business studies, international travel and tourism law, labour standards, dispute resolution and refugee law.

She also holds an honorary doctorate in law, according to her supplied professional profile.

Her professional development has extended beyond formal qualifications into research, training and international engagement. She has presented papers on intellectual property, sustainable tourism, workplace wellbeing and labour relations, among other subjects. Her published work includes research on the role of research and development in industry and commerce, as well as a joint publication examining green marketing.

Her contributions to public policy have also included work on international conventions relating to disability rights and the protection of internally displaced persons. Such responsibilities place legal expertise within a wider framework of social development, inclusion and institutional reform. Sibiya’s experience has also extended into corporate governance, including leadership roles within the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority and the National Building Society.

She currently serves as vice-chairperson of the Air Zimbabwe board and chairperson of the Mutare Polytechnic Advisory Council, according to the profile supplied to SBT. She is also listed as a legal consultant to the Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe and an Intellectual Property Rights Officer in the Research and Innovation Division at Midlands State University. Her profile further identifies her as an award-winning business mentor, having received the Outstanding Business Mentor of the Year award in 2023 under the Blackbelt Awards of Mastery.

The recognition reflects another dimension of her professional identity: supporting others to develop their skills, navigate challenges and pursue their ambitions.

The woman behind the professional titles

Yet Sibiya’s story extends beyond appointments, qualifications and boardroom responsibilities. Her recently published memoir, The Silent Battlefield: Faith, Abuse, Loss and the Journey Back to Myself, offers readers a more intimate account of the experiences behind the professional achievements.

The book explores her journey through an abusive marriage, personal loss, motherhood, and a life-changing stroke at the age of 35. It also examines the expectations placed on women to remain strong, sometimes at the expense of their own wellbeing. Rather than presenting resilience as an ability to endure suffering indefinitely, the memoir considers the difficult process of recognising pain, reclaiming dignity and beginning again.

“For a long time, I understood strength as the ability to endure. I kept going, even when I was hurting. But I came to understand that survival is not the same as living,” Sibiya says in the book’s accompanying statement. The memoir opens a different window into a woman whose public responsibilities have required professional composure and leadership, while acknowledging that personal challenges can exist alongside outward success.

Its themes include domestic abuse, grief, faith, emotional wellbeing, and the possibility of rebuilding one’s life after devastating experiences. For readers who have faced similar circumstances, the book seeks to encourage conversations that are often avoided or endured in silence.

Redefining strength

Sibiya’s professional life and personal testimony intersect around questions of responsibility, perseverance and the meaning of leadership. In public institutions, leadership is often measured through decisions, governance structures and organisational performance. In personal life, it may involve confronting painful realities, seeking support and finding the courage to move forward.

Her journey brings these different dimensions into focus without suggesting that achievement eliminates hardship. Through her work in law, public administration and corporate governance, she has contributed to institutions operating across several sectors. Through mentorship, she has engaged with the development of others. Through her memoir, she is inviting readers into conversations about experiences that professional titles rarely reveal.

For Sibiya, sharing her story is also an opportunity to reach people who may feel isolated by their circumstances. “I am sharing my story because there are people who are fighting battles that the world cannot see,” she says. That message gives The Silent Battlefield a purpose beyond autobiography: to remind readers that difficult experiences do not have to define the remainder of their lives.

As the Southerton Business Times recognises Dr Precious Sibiya as its Woman of the Week, her story offers a reminder that women’s achievements cannot always be captured by a list of positions held or qualifications earned. Sometimes, the fuller measure of a life lies in the combination of what a woman has contributed publicly, what she has endured privately, and what she chooses to do with those experiences.

For Sibiya, that next chapter includes continuing her professional work while using her voice to encourage others to confront their struggles and believe that beginning again is possible.

Dr Precious Sibiya