Brian Kajoba – Zambia

The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership

The beneficiary’s first encounter with Gender Links was during the 2012 Zambia National Summit at Cresta Golf View Hotel.

The beneficiary, Brian Kajoba, is a councillor for the Solwezi Municipal Council in North Western province of Zambia. He is also the deputy mayor for the same council. His main responsibilities are to educate people in the ward about their duties as citizens and locals of that community, empower women, give guidance to the council on policies, as well as preside over council meetings. He is also charged with sensitising people to the projects that are available in the council such as Community Development Funds (CDF).

His first encounter with Gender Links (GL) was during the 2012 Annual General Conference for the Local Government Association of Zambia in Nakonde. At the same event, he was elected as a Gender Champion. His other encounter with GL was during the Gender Links summit at Cresta Golf view. During that event, he was very touched by a testimony given by one participant who had been mistreated from her wedding day onwards and kept it secret for a long time. She later reported the man to the police and the man was prosecuted. This really touched him so much that he realised that women were undergoing a great deal of gender based violence and he thought something should be done to curb the vice.

As he came from the royal family he decided to engage traditional leaders in sensitising the people on the effects of GBV on women’s lives. Being a mayor and councillor, the beneficiary has used his position to uplift the living standards of women in the community by forming women’s clubs to help women learn from one another about empowerment, thereby trying to meet the SADC Protocol target number 15-19. He also ensured that ten women from his community acquired land. He has initiated programmes on maize storage shades so that farmers take their produce to the shade for storage. Lobbying for communication towers in the constituency is yet another achievement of the beneficiary, which shows that he believes communication is vital for the development of an area. In terms of resource allocation, his ward has received sufficient allocation during his tenure of office compared to his predecessors because he believes as a leader he needs to ensure that the needs of his people are met. This can only be done by ensuring that resources are available. As such, he has managed to lobby for resources for the development of his ward and it boasts health posts as well as community schools for people who cannot afford to pay school fees as he believes education is the main key to success. He also believes the level of education has a bearing on gender based violence.

The beneficiary has faced challenges such as the fact that most policies are not women friendly as such, it becomes necessary to lobby for funds to support women’s projects.

The beneficiary’s future plan is to see that his council engenders all its policies so that women can participate in decision making and that levels of GBV in the area can be reduced.