Rodeth Gil

Rodeth Teresa Makina dos Santos Gil (born 26 October 1948) is an Angolan nurse, army general, and politician. Orphaned at a young age, she joined the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola while still a teenager, ultimately serving as both a soldier and a nurse during the Angolan War of Independence. Following Angolan independence in 1975, Gil initially continued her career as a nurse before being appointed as Secretary of Social Affairs for the Angolan government for much of the 1980s. She later returned to politics as a member of parliament in 2008, where she helped write the new Angolan constitution, before retiring in 2014. An early influential female member of the MPLA, in 2021 she was appointed to the organisation's honorary council.

Early life Gil was born on 26 October 1948 in the Cantinflas neighbourhood of Cuíto. She spent her first years living in Lunda Norte Province, where her father, Cassanje Makina, worked as a shepherd; they later moved to Luau. When Gil was four years old, her father died; when she was six, her mother also died, following which Gil was moved to a Catholic mission, before being cared for by her uncles.

Career

Angolan War of Independence (1965–1975) When Gil was 16 and living in Luau, she first heard the anti-colonial radio station Rádio Angola Combatente, and subsequently joined a regional cell of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). At the end of 1965, Gil moved to Dilolo, and later secretly to Kinshasa and then Brazzaville, the location of the MPLA's headquarters in exile. While she was in Dilolo, an officer from the United Nations Operation in the Congo changed her date of birth on her documents to 1945, making her legally an adult, so that she could freely travel around the First Congolese Republic. After receiving training and instructions from the MPLA, Gil travelled to Zambia where, under the supervision of Aníbal de Melo Camaxilo, she became a combatant in the Angolan War of Independence, being given the pseudonym Njinga Mbandi.

In 1967, the MPLA enrolled Gil onto a nursing course, which operated at Base Hanói II under the instruction of Américo Boavida and Manuel Gonçalo Ribeiro de Sousa.

In 1980, Gil was appointed Secretary of Social Affairs, a ministerial position, succeeding Maria Vahekeni; she remained in post until 1987. During her time in government, Gil was able to organise logistics for widespread food distribution, and largely removed homelessness in Luanda through the provision of shelter, healthcare, and social reintegration services. Gil also called publicly for the social integration of combatants from the war.

Later political career (2008–2014) In the 2008 Angolan parliamentary election, Gil was elected as an MPLA member of parliament for the National Electoral District. As a member of the National Assembly, she was one of the signatories of the 2010 Angolan constitution. Gil returned to the Angolan Armed Forces, where she retired in 2014 as an army general. In 2015, she was awarded the Order of the Freedom Fighters.

Post-retirement (2014–present) In 2015, Gil became the non-executive director of the public company Imprensa Nacional de Angola that publishes official periodicals.

In December 2021, Gil was elected to the MPLA's Honorary Council.

Personal life Gil's first marriage was to Henriques Leonel Gama Gil, who was commander of the 4th Political-Military Region of the EPLA, covering Lunda Norte, Malanje and Uíge provinces, with whom she had four children. He was killed in combat in 1967 during the War of Independence following an ambush by the National Liberation Front of Angola.