Professor Norah Olembo is the executive director of the African Biotechnology Stakeholders Forum (ABSF), and is credited with popularising the concept of intellectual property rights in Kenya.
Due her extensive academic qualifications, Olembo is recognised as an expert in her field and as a pioneer female in a male-dominated profession. However, her journey in the field of science did not have a smooth beginning, though she was always fascinated by science. Olembo was in high school at a time when Biology and Mathematics were the only choices in science open to female students.
She passed Biology in her ‘O’ level examinations in 1960, but had never heard of Physics or Chemistry. Nevertheless, she chose a career path in the sciences, leaving the country to do her ‘A’ levels at Mount School in Yorkshire in the United Kingdom, where she discovered the wide scope of the sciences and received a certificate in Chemistry, Biology and Physics.
Olembo came back to Kenya and became one of the first women to join the University of Nairobi, where she pursued a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry, Zoology and Botany. In 1972 she graduated with a Master of Science in Zoology from the same institution. She holds a Postdoctoral Degree in Molecular Biology from the University of London as well as a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Nairobi.
Olembo also has professional certificates in Insect Endocrinology from the International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) in Kenya, in Strategic Planning from the Voluntary Agencies Development Assistance in Kenya (VADA), and in Recombinant DNA techniques from Courtauld Institute of Biochemistry in the United Kingdom.
As one of the first women in the country to receive a PhD, Olembo has worked in several capacities as a scientist, thereby gaining immeasurable experience. She worked as an Associate Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Nairobi and was later appointed Chairperson of the Department of Biochemistry at the same institution.
She also served as Managing Director of the Kenya Industrial Property Organisation (KIPO) from 1992 to 2002. When the institution was renamed Kenya Industrial Property Institute (KIPI), she served as Director for an additional year.
Prior to this, Olembo served as a consultant for various organisations such as the Food and Agricultural Organisation, the United Nations Environmental Programme, the International Service for National Agricultural Research, the International Centre for Research in Semi-Arid Tropics and the International Centre for Maize Research.
She has published over 30 proceedings, abstract reports and research papers in various international scientific journals.
Olembo belongs to over 30 professional societies and organizations including the Genetic Resources Policy Committee of the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), the Commission for Biological Education (CBE) of the International Union Trustee of the Public Law Institute, and the International Association for Women Biochemists.
As recognition for her work in science, the Butere Girls’ alumna has received two Presidential awards: the Order of the Moran of the Burning Spear (MBS) and the Order of the Grand Warrior of Kenya (OGW).
Olembo believes that through biotechnology, Kenya can find a way to avoid environmental damage caused by conventional methods of agricultural production.