Dr. Sarah A. H. Olembo, who has worked at the Inter-African Phytosanitary Council, (IAPSC) for the past 10 years, is moving on to other duties at AU head office in Addis. During her term of office at IAPSC, Dr Olembo revived and revitalized the phytopathology and Quarantine section which had been abandoned since the death in 1979, of former Scientific Secretary, Dr Paul Adoh, who was also a phytopathologist. Before joining the African Union, Dr. Olembo had taught at Universities in Nigeria and Kenya.

At IAPSC, Dr Olembo reactivated and stimulated plant quarantine systems in all of Africa, by first embarking on the revision of the African Plant Protection Convention, adopted since 1967 ; as well as providing guidelines on phytosanitary and quarantine regulations. The IAPSC convention is modeled after the Revised International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), 1997. On the IPPC, Dr Olembo took upon herself the duty to massively campaign and incites African countries to adhere through compliance. In particular, she was instrumental in getting the support for the enhancement of Member States obligations for pest reporting.

Dr. S. Olembo

During her tenure, more than 10 countries ratified this convention with Uganda being the latest (2006). One other major contribution was on the African journal of plant protection. Through her efforts, the journal realized 5 more issues.

With international collaborators she has formulated proposals on Bio-security Information Facility (BIF) for the Africa region, and the training of phytosanitary inspectors. These proposals have been accepted by the Directorate of Rural Economy and Agriculture for the biennium, 2006-2008, and when well implemented will contribute immensely in enhancing phytosanitary capacities in Africa. . As Dr Olembo traveled the world, she always brought back in her hunting bag all what was necessary for Africa's development in plant health management. Her perfect knowledge of specific provisions for Africa in certain international organizations such as WTO, FAO WHO, Codex Alimentarius, etc., transformed Dr Olembo into a true awareness raiser and "devils advocate" in phytosanitary matters. She never stopped saying out loud that Africa needs assistance to solve some of her problems, such as fraudulent phytosanitary certificates. She particularly strengthened the "SPS Regulatory Tool-Box" for various SPS risk assessment methodologies that are used in regulatory decision making in Africa. She used her numerous contacts to raise awareness in the international scientific community on the importance of strengthening the IAPSC and helping it to accomplish its tasks of enhancing plant health in Africa-in particular, It was within this framework that she obtained a number of projects which have been very beneficial to African Union member countries in such areas as capacity building for pest risk analysis in Africa, harmonization of phytosanitary legislations in Africa, safety in the use of pesticide spraying equipment, as well as the acquisition of the renown electronic library TEEAL, to name but a few. Most recently, (April, 2006), her efforts have received the attention of APHIS-USAID which has pledged to support African countries in the area of phytosanitary standards for the next 5 years. This was one of the activities that were supported with funds from the IPPC, but which had hither-to been affected due to budget cuts at the IPPC.

With the departure of Dr Nazaire Nkouka, former Scientific Secretary, and the arrival of Dr Koumba Koumba, new IAPSC Director, Dr. Olembo has had the task of bridging the gap. Indeed, this transition unavoidably made Dr Olembo to assume several roles simultaneously, particularly during such recent events as the 22nd General Assembly and the 2nd Steering Committee, where she had to choose themes and prepare lead papers, organize the meetings, manage the secretariat, direct and orientate proceedings, etc. It is not our aim here to draw up a progress report of Dr Olembo's work at IAPSC, (we have neither the competence nor the mandate to do that). We simply wish to underscore, in a few words, her passion for the IAPSC, and her fervent determination in upholding Africa's interests in the phytosanitary domain. This passion led her to sacrifice everything in order to give herself the time necessary for the accomplishment of the missions that she had set for herself. For instance, she opted for solitude by sending back all of her family to Nairobi, so as to devote all of her time to the IAPSC. In the office, she would at times work 48 straight hours, only catching a few minutes of sleep, and snacking on fruits and peanuts she usually carried in her document bag. A visitor to Dr. Olembo's office never left without having a cup of coffee, tea, a slice of pineapple, or peanuts. She never went out for lunch.

The only handicap Dr Olembo faced was the French language, which would have enabled her to interact more easily, and to be better understood by her Francophone colleagues. Unfortunately, the enthusiastic desire to learn French that she manifested on her arrival by registering at the Pilot Language Centre soon faded because of the complex nature of this language. She rightly felt that this language learning exercise would steal some her precious time which she could devote to the more important phytosanitary problems of the continent. This lack of French may have denied many that would have loved to share her professional knowledge.

It is to crown her work that the President of the African Union Commission has appointed her to the AU head office to coordinate Africa's phytosanitary action at a decision-making level. This way, she would have more possibilities of articulating her proposals through her contributions in biotechnology, seed and food safety issues which are pressing and hampering Africa's breakthrough in food security.

We wish her all the success in her new functions, where we hope she will continue to defend the IAPSC from a higher level.