Chishala Kateka: Woman in BBZ boardroom

SUNDAY PROFILE with DOREEN NAWA
Lusaka
WOMEN have a long way to go in remotely coming close to gender parity in the workplace, especially at decision-making level.
In Zambia, it has been a trend: women are more likely to be appointed to seats vacated by other women, and when men step down, they are more likely to be replaced by men.
But change is coming, and for the first time, Barclays Bank Zambia (BBZ) Board now has a female Chairperson for the first time. Her name is Chishala Kateka.
Ms Kateka was appointed as Barclays Bank Zambia Plc Board Chairperson effective June 22, 2017 and became the first female to serve in that capacity on the bank’s board.
Her appointment follows the retirement of Jacob Jones Sikazwe, who served as Board Chair from March 23, 2007 to June 21, 2017.
Prior to the appointment, Ms Kateka was an instrumental member of the Barclays Bank Zambia Plc Board on which she served as a Non-Executive Director from 2009 until her appointment.
Born on June 30, 1956, Ms Kateka holds a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Zambia. She qualified in 1990 as a member of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants (subsequently Association of Chartered Certified Accountants - ACCA), with Deloitte Haskins and Sells (subsequently Deloitte & Touché).
The work experience gained with Deloitte was varied ranging from the provision of audit and accountancy services to clients from all sectors of the economy and the conducting of in-house and client-training courses.
Ms Kateka had 12 years professional experience with the Deloitte practices in both Zambia and Botswana.
In 1994 she took over the running of the medium-sized firm of Bena Kateka and Company, which, in 1996, became part of Binder Dijker Otte (BDO) International, which operated in Zambia as BDO Kateka Evans Musonda (BDO-KEM) of which she became Managing Partner.
Binder Dijker Otte is an international network of public accounting, tax, consulting and business advisory firms which perform professional services under the name of BDO.
She also sat on the BDO Spencer Steward Southern Africa Board composed of all Managing Partners in Southern Africa.
The firm later in Zambia became known as Triquetra Assurance Services. Ms Kateka has during this period undertaken a wide spectrum of professional services, including audit and accountancy, liquidations, consultancy, litigation support, fraud investigation and dispute arbitration. She has also served as an expert witness in recognition of her expertise and experience as an accountant.
She is a serial entrepreneur with significant financial business and life experience, including an advanced set of survival skills related to her setting up a project that will help to address mindset issues which result in detrimental behaviour amongst most Zambians.
Many companies, including banks, have never had a woman on their board, making it even more unlikely that a woman will get the next vacant position. And that’s how the cycle of gender disparity continues.
But Ms Kateka’s vast professional experience, including involvement in assignments related to a number of financial institutions, provided her with a deep appreciation of the workings of the financial sector. This experience, her work ethic and commitment to whatever is set before her made her the right candidate for the appointment.
She was until May 2001 interim manager at Kafue Textiles of Zambia. She was the principal consultant for the World Bank on the Copperbelt Economic Diversification Workshop Project after which she subsequently became the co-ordinator of the National Economic Diversification Programme in Zambia – a project co-funded by the World Bank and the Zambian Government.
Ms Kateka was also Principal Consultant for the World Bank on the 2002 Consultative Group meeting in Livingstone, Zambia.
Until her retirement in February 2014, Ms Kateka was Managing Director of ZAMNET Communication Systems Ltd. She is currently an Independent Director sitting on various boards including the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA), The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) and Nico Insurance.
She is a savvy financial woman in her own right, driving many of the strategies, partnerships and other financial business deals all associated with success.
Bu what is her secret to effectively staying on top?
For Ms Kateka, the way to the top is by having the much-needed professional qualification for the position as well as being professional and good at what one does.
“Women face a stronger trade-off than men between career and family. Women’s ability to hold top-level jobs is primarily constrained by either their desire to spend time with family or the continued relevance of strong gender norms in terms of the allocation of childcare duties, both of which may constrain career advancement given a working environment that offers limited tolerance for anything less than full commitment to work.
“But I am not saying women should not care for their family, they should do so but also ensure that they get the much needed education and qualify for top positions,” Ms Kateka says.
Ms Kateka says until stereotyped gender roles change, women are unlikely to get equal billing at the top.
She feels there is not much of discrimination going against women trying to take up top position, adding that the only challenge is that most women may not have the qualifications for the top jobs although this is now changing.
“I can cite a few examples of women that are in top positions – the Bank of Zambia Deputy Governor of Administration, Dr Tukiya Kankasa-Mabula is a very professional woman, our own Mizinga Melu at Barclays Bank Plc, a prominent banker, is another example. Those are qualified women that have earned their positions through their hard work,” she says.
Ms Kateka has easily stepped into some large shoes and filled them with her own talent, skill and leadership to help take the bank to the next level.  PUBLISHED IN THE ZAMBIA DAILY MAIL ON APRIL 29, 2018. LINK: https://www.daily-mail.co.zm/chishala-kateka-woman-in-bbz-boardroom/

Hikaumba: The union man

SUNDAY PROFILE with DOREEN NAWA
Lusaka
THE title ‘The Union Man’ would best fit his life story for his long service as a unionist in Zambia.
Mr Hikaumba, former Zambia Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) president who is also former Civil Servants Union of Zambia president is known as a staunch trade unionist through and through and a rare breed of genuine socialists.
Mr Hikaumba has earned the love and respect of just about everybody who ever meets him inside and outside the trade union movement.
In reality he is everybody’s hero, whether they are civil servants, taxi drivers, bus drivers or street vendors. Mention his name, and what comes to many people’s minds is how he stood up to late President Levy Mwanawasa on various labour matters.
On February 2004, Mr Hikaumba put so much pressure on President Mwanawasa and his government that the President openly said that he never enjoyed being President of Zambia.
As if that was not enough, in March 2014 in Kitwe, during the Labour Day commemoration, Mr Hikaumba accused President Mwanawasa of being very arrogant. The basis of the accusation was the continued non-improvement of workers’ conditions of service in the country.
During his reign, Mr Hikaumba simply wanted a better and just world for everyone, with a society free of war, hunger, poverty, homelessness, unemployment and repression.
As always, during his active involvement in labour matters, Mr Hikaumba was prepared to fight for those ideals and in his youth he came close to dying for them.
Mr Hikaumba’s involvement in fighting for others started during his secondary school days at Mumbwa Secondary School.
“I recall when I was in form five, there was a misunderstanding at school between the headmaster and the female pupils regarding hostel accommodation. Then the issue needed the attention of the Mumbwa district governor. We gathered as students and went to see the governor and I was chosen to speak. After meeting the governor, the issue was settled in our favour,” Mr Hikaumba recalls.
Mr Hikaumba was born in Dabbali village, in Hamapande area under Chief Moonze in Monze Southern Province, but he grew up in Mumbwa.
This was after his father, an evangelist in the Lutheran Church, was transferred to Chabota area in Mumbwa district.
He started grade one at Chabota Primary in 1971 and in 1978, qualified to go to Mumbwa Secondary School for form one.
He completed his secondary education in 1982 and was one of the top five students selected to go to University of Zambia (UNZA).
Soon after getting into university in 1983, a veterinary medicine course was introduced and he opted to go for it.
But Mr Hikaumba never completed his studies at the university. He was expelled after he got involved in the student union politics.
“I was in my third year when UNZA was closed in 1986. The entire University of Zambia Student Union (UNZASU) executive was expelled from school and that is how I found myself out of the university. I was the UNZASU secretary general,” he says.
But what led to the student unrest?
“The basis of the protests began when government introduced boarding fees in government schools then. So we felt that many pupils will not manage. We felt it was the obligation of Government to provide free education. We then decided to hold a meeting and invited schools and parents and other representatives. We wanted to compel Government to rescind the decision so that no one is disadvantaged by the move. So we did all the advertising for that meeting and the whole country was aware. When the university management got to know about it, they decided to cancel by sponsoring a contrary advertisement and that meeting was canceled,” Mr Hikaumba says.
But the students went ahead and began a march from UNZA to State House in order to present their petition to President Kenneth Kaunda. The march was stopped by police.
And the next day, the student union leadership made a transport requisition as the case was to order food stuffs for the student canteen that was run by UNZASU.
Contrary to the custom where UNZASU would use the university transport for the errands, the university management refused to grant them permission to use the said transport.
This action angered the students the more.
“What used to happen is that when we need transport to buy goods for the canteen, the cost was deducted from the UNZASU account. When that time came, the requisition was cancelled. Our UNZASU president Ben Chilufya decided to get more clarity from the principal, Professor Mwauluka. It was at that point that the two had a physical confrontation. Mr Chilufya was then pushed into a police vehicle after the principal engaged police to come to his rescue,” Mr Hikaumba says.
Soon a protest ensued. The unrest became violent and students damaged and set ablaze two vehicles, one belonging to the principal and the other to the chief security officer. The students also damaged school property before marching to the Great East Road.
It was this protest that saw Mr Hikaumba being expelled from the university. He was UNZASU secretary general then.
He then opted to go to Natural Resources Development College (NRDC).
“I went there to enroll, they looked at my results and I was asked why I did not go to the university with such good results. The principal at the college openly told me that if I am one of the students that were expelled, I will not be enrolled, he went to check the list and my name was there,” Mr Hikaumba says.
After being sent back and forth, Mr Hikaumba could not succeed in finding a place at NRDC, nor could he get any scholarship to study abroad.
“There were a number of scholarships given, but I discovered that even for the scholarships, we were blacklisted. I went to Liteta instead at my uncle’s farm and started my farming. A year later, I received an acceptance letter from NRDC. I went to the college and after all the formalities, the principal called me saying I had been accepted by mistake,” Mr Hikaumba says.
But out of sympathy, the principal allowed Mr Hikaumba to be in school under a condition that he would never get involved in student politics.
Despite the condition, Mr Hikaumba had numerous requests to join the student politics. He was nominated unanimously to sit on the College Board as a student representative.
In 1990, he completed his education at NRDC and a year later, he was employed in the Ministry of Agriculture and was sent to Mongu.
A few months later, he was transferred to Kalabo. While in Kalabo, he was elected to lead the district civil servants committee.
At the end of 1994, he first got actively involved in trade union matters at the quad annual conference.
He was appointed regional secretary for Western Province. He was then transferred from Kalabo to Mongu.
It was at this conference in 1994 where he was elected president of the Civil Servants Union of Zambia. The quest to stand for presidency came immediately after he gave a vote of thanks after Newstead Zimba, the then minister of Labour had spoken.
“According to my colleagues, the vote of thanks was powerful and everyone was impressed. Then during the break, a request for me to stand for the president of the civil servants union came. It was within the 20 minutes that I made a decision to take up the challenge. I never campaigned because they did that for me. When the campaigns started, I was written off by my colleagues because I was the youngest and I was only four years in the civil service. I was only 31,” Mr Hikaumba says.
Mr Hikaumba served four terms as CSUZ president from 1994 until 2010 when he decided to step down and become a trustee.
Mr Hikaumba become ZCTU president in October 2002, after serving as ZCTU vice president six months earlier.
He took over from Mr Fackson Shamenda who had decided to step down.
Mr Hikaumba defended his position for three consecutive terms until 2014 when he decided to pave way for others.
The trade union movement and his beloved ZCTU, in particular, was a natural home for him.
On numerous successes under his leadership, one of the notable ones is when the civil service won a court case after taking Government to court over delayed negotiations. During this case, civil service unions had President Lungu as their lawyer.
Mr Hikaumba’s hatred of oppression encouraged him to serve with dignity and honour.
His sincerity in everything he achieved or tried to do showed through his tenure, and retirement has not diminished his energies.
He has stayed active in providing professional advice on industrial relations matters.
While a formidable interrogator, he is ever constructive. PUBLISHED IN THE ZAMBIA DAILY MAIL ON APRIL 15, 2018. LINK: https://www.daily-mail.co.zm/hikaumba-the-union-man/

Are women enemies of themselves?

DOREEN NAWA, Lusaka
THERE is a belief that real women fix each other’s crowns.
But this seems not to be in practice following numerous complaints that women do not support each other.
This has created debate and it has become topical in the last few weeks.
Last week, First Lady Esther Lungu appealed to women in the country to stop the ‘pull her down’ tendency but unite and support each other in order to make a difference in their communities.
For Mrs Lungu, she feels women should support each other in order to contribute to the development of the country.
Her views are echoed by others.
Minister of Finance Margaret Mwanakatwe believes the ‘pull her down’ syndrome is too much to be ignored.
“The issue of women pulling each other down is too much, that is why we never talk about women and not talk about it. I understand that there has always been immense pressure on women to be perfect. But we need to prove ourselves by coming together, supporting each other and fighting our way to achieve what we desire,” Mrs Mwanakatwe says.
Women, out of being the marginalised, have come a long way.
Together, women created a fortress of validity for their beliefs and missions, and pulled each other up like a rising tide that lifts a boat, and sailed off to achieve their dreams.
For Mrs Mwanakatwe, when a woman realises a fellow woman needs help, that’s where other women come in to support, to make sure their confidence does not take a dip.
Mrs Mwanakatwe emphasises the need for women to make sure there is zero tolerance to oppression, and to speak up for other women when their confidence is mutilated even in the smallest of ways.
Certainly so, celebrating achievements of women, either personal or professional, and telling their inspiring stories of how they fought against all odds to reach the stars is a vital element in ensuring support and keeping the momentum.
And Zambia National Women’s Lobby board chairperson Beauty Katebe says one crucial thing is the importance of having support from the right people in one’s life, especially women.
Ms Katebe says a woman understands how to take ownership of her work, adding that apart from the women in your family and friends, the venture that one is running requires teamwork, which plays a crucial part, as it is often necessary for colleagues to work well together to give their best in any circumstance.
“Our idea should always be solving real problems of people. Women understand each other’s circumstances and prove to be each other’s keeper,” Ms Katebe says.
She says women are smart, brave, funny, ambitious and confident.
“Imagine what great things can happen when such dynamic forces join hands together to support and uplift each other. All that one needs is to share experiences, achievements and lessons or knowledge with the rest of us,” Ms Katebe says.
If the efforts of a few can bring about the change, imagine what great things can happen if each woman starts supporting the other.
The adage, ‘One woman’s success always helps another woman’s success’, seems to be falling short.
But for Non-Governmental Co-ordinating Council (NGOCC), all hope is not lost.
NGOCC chairperson Sara Longwe says encouraging fellow women to stand up for themselves and speak out for what they want can enable big leaps in developing gender parity at work.
“We do not need to pull each other down as women. We need to work together and ensure that we support each other both physically and morally,” Ms Longwe says.
But why is it that despite gender equality being high on the national agenda of most countries, when a woman finds her way to the top, other women do very little to support her?
Zambian National Men’s Network co-ordinator Nelson Banda says the issue of the ‘pull her down’ syndrome is the same world over.
Mr Banda says despite the ratification of several protocols that support the development of women like the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), there is no difference because women do not support each other.
For Mr Banda, the challenge is that women discuss personalities more instead of projects and career progression.
“As opposed to men, time is now for women to stop the ‘pull her down’ syndrome if they are to develop to their full potential,” Mr Banda says.
What other better time than this to introspect about challenges faced by women and the need to back them and reinforce their confidence in their abilities so that they can be leaders.
However, getting there has not been easy and may not be. Many Zambian women point to a lack of support and encouragement from other women.
Until women are ready to support and uplift each other, the fight for gender parity may not be achieved anytime soon. PUBLISHED IN THE ZAMBIA DAILY MAIL ON APRIL 8, 2018. LINK: https://www.daily-mail.co.zm/are-women-enemies-of-themselves/

Political career nurtured in hospital

DOREEN NAWA, Lusaka
WHEN her husband died in 2002 and left her with three children, a girl and two boys, Jane Daka Mutwale promised herself they would still not suffer.
Her oldest child, a daughter aged 23, is at the University of Nambia. The other two, who are twins, are aged 20. One is in China while the other is at the Copperbelt University (CBU).
“I work extremely hard to ensure that I create a possible future for my children by giving them a chance for an education,” she says. “As a woman, I told myself when God took my husband that I will do my best to provide for my children.”
Fortunately for Mrs Mutwale, she was a career woman.
As a child, Mrs Mutwale was always the first to grab the ice pack or a bandage when one of her younger siblings was hurt.
She had ambition of becoming a nurse since the age of five. Her ambition came true.
Born on August 12, 1970 in Kalomo, Southern Province where her parents met, she did her primary education at Kalomo Primary School before moving to Njase Girls Secondary School in Choma where she completed her secondary school in 1989.
Her family then moved to Chingola, Copperbelt where Mrs Mutwale started her nursing career after enrolling at the Nchanga School of Nursing as a midwife in 1990.
She spent two years there, and in 1993, she was sponsored by the Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) to train as a registered nurse at Ronald Ross Nursing School in Mufulira until 1995 when she completed her training.
Afterwards, she moved to Konkola Mine Hospital to work as a nurse. And to date, she has been working as a nurse.
Her job as a nurse has given her an opportunity to interact with a lot of residents of Chililabombwe, especially those who go to seek medical care.
Mrs Mutwale has earned the recognition of the people of Chililabombwe. In 2011, the community of Chililabombwe’s Kafue ward, who had experienced her courtesy and hospitality, asked that she takes part in the affairs of the ward just as a member of the ward committee.
It was the start of her political career.
In the 2016 general elections, she stood as councilor for Kafue ward and won on the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) ticket.
“I did not know that the little things I do for people here in Chililabombwe are being recognised,” she says. “Whenever I go out, I seem to be more popular and sometimes people will remind me of some help I rendered to them months back. As a result of such service, I find myself more popular now than ever before.”
Mrs Mutwale says her involvement in public office as a councillor is just the beginning of her political life because she aspires to be a member of Parliament for the area.
“I believe it was not a mistake for me to be here in Chililabombwe for all these years since 1993, through service, I have to give back to the people in this area,” she says. “I just love the satisfaction I get after giving a service to the people that need it the most. That is why I find it satisfying to just see people get better not only in the hospital where I work but also in the community where I live.”
Mrs Mutwale now combines work as a nurse at the hospital and that of a councillor.
For the past three years, she has been a community case manager with a rural caseload that deals predominantly with seniors.
“I absolutely love working in the community,” she says. “You get to see an entirely different side of people in their homes and what’s going on with them. I love problem-solving and being challenged.”
In one of her roles at ward level, she worked with a range of people in resolving challenges within the community like upgrading infrastructure. And because of her expertise in health matters, she was asked to sit on a health committee to attend to the health issues raised in the community.
Mrs Mutwale has been trained by the Zambia National Women’s Lobby (ZNWL), through one of its women empowerment programmes.
“Social issues are important to me,” explains Mrs Mutwale.
“When you find out that your clients seem more ignorant about what to do with their own health and struggling to even manage their environment, you realise there are a lot of things that the general public does not know.
“People grow food but still have malnutrition problems, then you know they need more information. If people could afford proper nutrition and their prescriptions, health care would be much less expensive. That’s my nurse’s brain at work, looking at the entire picture, the environment and all the factors that go into health.”
But even as she looks to further her political career, Mrs Mutwale also wants to advance in her nursing profession.
She sponsored herself for a degree programme in nursing at UNZA. Now she is looking at pursing a Masters.
“I wanted to be up to date with education,” Mrs Mutwale says. “As a woman, I believe education is what we should look out for in order for us to be in those positions that we dream of and be the leaders in our communities.” PUBLISHED IN THE ZAMBIA DAILY ON March 31, 2018. LINK: https://www.daily-mail.co.zm/political-career-nurtured-in-hospital/