Dembe Zuma is a main character in The Blacklist. He is Raymond Reddington 's sworn bodyguard and one of his closest friends, having been rescued by Red from human trafficking as a child.
Dembe is introduced as a former freedom fighter from South Sudan. It was assumed that he was Raymond Reddington 's bodyguard. When Samwel reported a number of low-ranking operatives of the Mombasa Cartel, a poaching organization, to the authorities, the cartel killed Dembe's father, mother, and siblings, and sold Dembe to human traffickers. At some point, he was being held by the Eberhardt Cartel. He spent 8 years in the world of human trafficking and was enslaved until the age of 14, when Reddington found him half-dead and chained to a pipe in the basement of a brothel in Nairobi.
Reddington took care of him, nursed him back to health, and made sure he got an education. Dembe eventually earned a Bachelor's degree in English Literature, learned to speak 4 languages fluently and learned 6 others well enough to get by. Other reports place him and Red in Murmansk and Belfast. Dembe claimed that there are 3 people he cares about in the whole world, his daughter Isabella, his granddaughter Elle, and Raymond.
Dembe is among the very few who know that Raymond is not the real Raymond Reddington, but an imposter who took over his identity over 30 years ago. He is Red's driver. When Liz visits Floriana Campo 's room after being told Red had hired the Freelancer, it is Dembe who is on guard outside the door. He follows her inside and watches while Campo dies. He is with Red when he meets with Liz to tell her that Hector Lorca has contacted him about a new identity. He answers the phone in Haiti when Liz calls to advise Red that Lorca's trial has been abandoned.
He drives Red's limousine to Stanley R. Kornish 's cabin after stopping to buy meat. He accompanies Red while he makes a new deal with Max Ruddiger, possibly to intimidate Max, as during the negotiations he stands behind Max.
