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| A woman crossing a canal in the Barotse Sub-Basin |
By Birbal Boniface Musoba
10 July, 2015
Sinking back into the seat behind
her desk, her eyes were alert again as if consciously summoning back the animated
images she was about to recount.
“A couple of months ago when we
were in Sesheke on a World Bank Mission, I vividly recall the narration by one
Mutemwa community member of how she was almost killed by a crocodile that very
morning before we arrived,” She continued, her speech steady, her gaze intent.
“The shocking part of the story was the calmness with which the woman narrated
her story, as if that was a normal occurrence, a part of their daily lives.”
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| Chama Nambeya speaking during World Press Freedom Day |
The woman speaking was ChamaNambeya, the Communication and Administration Manager at the Interim ClimateChange Secretariat (ICCS). She was narrating a story she heard when she was part
of the third World Bank Implementation Support Mission tour from 23rd
March to 3rd April, 2015.
“For me, what was really sad
about that story,” Ms. Nambeya continued, “was that, even though the people of
Mutemwa live so close to the Zambezi River, they still do not have adequate and
safe access to water. For them, accessing water is still at great danger.”
This account was part of many
first-hand but eerily similar lamentations by the locals living in the Barotse
Sub-basin of the hardships they faced that the Mission team heard recounted
over and over again during the Mission.
Leaning forward on her table
littered with documents, files, folders, the ICCS-issued laptop and her iPhone,
as if to make sure no word was missed, her eyes fervent, yet steadfast, the
Communication and Administration Manager, who was celebrating her one year
anniversary working for the ICCS, stated, “being part of the ICCS’s overseeing
the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience implementation in Zambia and seeing
people’s lives transformed for the better through this programme, makes me
happy and makes me sleep well at night.”
It is said that the difference
between success and failure is a great team. And the ICCS’s 11 person team,
with a tightknit support staff, evinces the diligence and fortitude in
executing the Secretariat’s agenda that gives credence to the realisation that
in any organisation, regardless of the size, the workforce is the most valuable
asset.
“The thing I love about my job is
that it’s a new and growing field, and it’s interesting to be in the forefront
of the pioneering efforts,” David C. Kaluba said of his job at the ICCS. “It’s
exciting to establish an institution with the members of staff implementing the
programmes of various projects, as I lead them into something that they find
exciting.”
The enthusiasm and elation
reverberating in Mr. Kaluba’s voice as he speaks, carrying undertones of fervour,
eagerness and vigour, are reminiscent of a young computer techie on the cusp of
coding a multibillion dollar string of code that will revolutionise information
technology in some way, or a savant about to ponder the reasoning to finding
answers to the big questions in life.
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| David C. Kaluba during the 2014 World Bank Mission |
Sitting in front of him and
hearing him speak about climate change and climate resilience in Zambia, and
how it makes him look forward to the next day as another opportunity to do
something different and affect change in the world, Mr. Kaluba, who happens to
be the National Coordinator of the ICCS, the
head honcho himself, infuses everything and everyone around him with the
impassioned vest to roll up one’s sleeves and get down and dirty to affect the
change needed in combating climate change.
It is this gravitas and vigour
that sets the trail ablaze for the ICCS team.
However, he is the first to admit
that he does not do it all by himself. In ensuring that his vision for the ICCS
is well executed, Mr. Kaluba has surrounded himself with a team that ensures
that the ICCS effectually facilitates its mandate through the coordination of climate
change activities by bringing together stakeholders like government, private
sector, civil society and cooperating partners in achieving the aims and
objectives of the National Climate Change Response Strategy; and, the
forthcoming Climate Change Policy.
For the National Coordinator,
this means that each staff member brings years of experience to their position,
thus, ensuring the functional and proficient implementation of the strategies
that have been developed on raising awareness on climate change and its related
impacts and resilience efforts at the national, province, district, sub-district
and community level, including the targeted beneficiaries in the Barotse and
Kafue Sub-Basins.
“I recently just got back from
doing field work in Mwandi and Kanzugula,” Carol Zulu explained as she tried to
illustrate the dynamic nature of the job at the ICCS that requires each team
member to be at the height of their mental prowess. “In the communities that we
visited, we were looking at three projects of the excavation of ponds as a solution
to the difficulties faced by these communities with water supply.”
Mrs. Zulu, the ICCS’s
Environmental and Social Inclusion Manager, describes her position as having
two components: the environmental aspect that ensures that all projects
implemented under PPCR do not exert or create negative impacts on the environment
and the communities, and the social aspect which ensures that no community
member is left behind during the projects’ implementation process. This means taking
into account the women, orphans and the vulnerable of the community and placing
them smack in the centre of the hive of activities.
She explained that for these
particular projects with the proposal of dealing with intact areas of land
where dams had never been built before, the Zambia Environmental Management
Agency raised concerns of the negative consequences on the environment that the
projects would foster.
“This happens sometimes,” she
narrated, that twinkle of excitement returning to her eyes: she’s one of those
who loves her job. “So, every time you are faced with a different environmental
setting and different community arrangement, in each instance you’ll have to
look for what has to be done specifically for that environment or community that
is different from any other environment or community.”
Her enthusiasm lingers in the
room long after the interview has ended.
When you have a conversation with
the rest of the ICCS’s team, the abundantly clear resurgence of the same
qualities and traits in each member of the team is beyond undeniable, it’s uncanny;
from the fervour, eagerness and vigour one experiences when around Mr. Kaluba,
to Ms. Nambeya’s steadfastness, to the twinkle of excitement in Mrs. Zulu’s
eye.
This rest of the team consists of
the Financial Management Specialist, Participatory Adaptation Specialist, Climate
Mitigation Coordinator, Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist, Procurement
Manager, Project Accountant, Monitoring & Evaluation Assistant, and the Office
Manager.
And, all of them, in their own regard, deserving of an article
extolling the virtues they bring to the ICCS, ensuring that the organisation
that was established in 2012 and housed under the Ministry of Finance, is Zambia’s
foremost national coordinating body for all climate change-related activities!
Find out more about the Zambia's mitigating and adaptation efforts in combating climate change by visiting the ICCS's website, Facebook and Twitter pages and expressing yourself on how climate change affects your part of the world!
Don't hesitate to contact me here for more information.
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| Community members clear a canal as part of PPCR implementation in the Barotse Sub-Basin |
