Nathan Chanda: From A Street Vendor To Luanshya Mayor

Nathan Chanda during his installation in September 2016

By Paul Shalala in Luanshya

He holds the record of being the youngest Mayor ever elected in Zambia. 

In 2011, he was aged 26 when Councilors in the mining town of Luanshya elected him Mayor. 

He served in that position for two and half years until his term expired.

And this young Mayor is popularly known as Nathan Chanda, though these names are his first and middle names.

Actually, Nathan’s surname is Bwalya.

But in the political world, people refer to him as Mr. Chanda instead of Mr. Bwalya.

However, this does not bother him.

He uses Nathan Chanda even on his campaign posters during elections.

But who is Nathan Chanda?

"Nathan Chanda is the last born of Mr and Mrs Bwalya. I was born on 5th February 1985 at Roan General Hospital. I did my pre-school at Bwafwano Community School. Then i did my Grade one to seven at Makoma Basic School, then i went to Chaisa Middle Basic School for Junior Secondary and completed my Secondary education at Roan Antelope High School," said Nathan in an interview at his residence.

He later studied for a Bachelor in Development Studies at the Zambia Open University.

His life is one that inspires many.

He did not have a privileged upbringing but he fought his way to the top.

In the year 2001 when his father was retrenched from the mines, he received K300 kwacha from his parent’s terminal benefits and decided to hit the streets to sell airtime.

Actually, his older siblings got more money from their father.

The eldest was allocated K500 while the second one went away with K400.

From being a street vendor, he developed himself to a level where he has become an entrepreneur who currently owns a shopping mall within Luanshya.

Nathan with President Edgar Lungu in Ndola

"I started a booth in Roan and later i moved into town where i was selling talk time as an agent of mobile phone providers. I later graduated into renting a shop. From there i decided to build my own shopping mall where we have 15 shops which are on lease," he said.

Apart from business, Nathan is a politician.

He says due to his height, people used to nickname him as FTJ in reference to Zambia’s second President the late Frederick Chiluba who was also short.

He joined the Patriotic Front (PF) in 2003 and because of his young age, he struggled to make it through the ranks for elected office.

"In 2010 when we had a by-election where i stay, i expressed interest to stand but i wasn't given an opportunity for so many reasons. One of them is that i was young, i was not married, people talked of so many things. But when Mr Adam Zulu was adopted, we went flat out to campaign and he won."

In the Patriotic Front, Nathan is currently serving as the Copperbelt Province Youth Chairperson.

He has held this position since 2011 and before that; he served at different levels of the ruling party.

Nathan started as a Ward Information and Publicity Secretary, later becoming Roan Constituency Vice Secretary and in 2008, he was elected PF Luanshya District Youth Chairman.

The following year he was elevated to Provincial Vice Treasurer before becoming full Treasurer a year later.

He held the Treasurer position until 2011 when he became Copperbelt Province Youth Chairman, a position he currently holds.

In last year’s general elections, Nathan applied for adoption to contest the Roan Constituency Parliamentary seat on the ruling party ticket.

This meant that he was challenging the then Information Minister Chishimba Kambwili who was hoping to recontest the seat for a third consecutive five year term.

The rivalry between the two contestants was so hot that intervention was sought from the Central Committee, the PF's highest leadership structure which later pacified the situation.

The Central Committee decided to remove Nathan from the parliamentary shortlist and adopted him as the Mayoral candidate for Luanshya.

He later stood and won the seat, occupying the mayoral seat for the second time.

Nathan is not just a politician and Mayor for Luanshya; he is also a family man.

He is married and has three children: Mwamba, Chanda and Kapaya.

Nathan with his wife Chisoswa and his three sons

But how does he share time between politics and family?

"I always have little time for my family. Politics eats most of my time. But i try my best to catch up and i miss my family so much. But the good part is that i'm married to the most wonderful wife in this world who understands politics very well," said Nathan.

His wife Chisoswa is so proud of her husband.

She tips him for higher positions due to his determination in life.

"Am proud, yes am proud of him because of his determination in life. He has come very far and he is one person who never gives up on his dreams. And one thing i like telling my husband is that never let anyone take you down because i know he can achieve alot because the spirit he has, he can go far," said Chisoswa.

Nathan says he has not yet reached his potential, he dreams of possibly serving this country as the Republican President.

At the age of 32, Nathan is one of the three youngest Mayors in the country.

Two other Mayors Christopher Kangombe of Kitwe and Prince Chileshe of Kabwe are also aged 32.

Nathan leads the mining town of Luanshya which he hopes to transform into a viable municipality when his current five year term expires in 2021.

At national level, Nathan is the Chairperson of the Zambian chapter of the Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders Initiative for Community Action on AIDS in Africa (AMICALL).

He was first elected to that position in 2011 for a five year term and last year, he was re-elected to a second term.

At the continental level, he is the Vice President for Africa at AMICALL.

He was elected to that continental position in 2013 for a five year term which ends in 2018.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This profile was originally aired on TV1's Morning Live program on 16 March 2017 and it can be watched on this YouTube link.

Zambia Courts IMF For Economic Recovery

Mr Mutati (Second left) with IMF officials after a meeting

By Paul Shalala

Zambia has commenced talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to find ways in which the Bretton Woods institution can help the southern African country emerge stronger from its current economic challenges.

The country is the world’s third largest producer of copper after Chile and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The newly sworn in Finance Minister Felix Mutati is in Washington attending the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank.

Today, Mr Mutati held closed door meetings with IMF officials and discussed Zambia’s economic recovery programme which he is championing.

“The minister said the country had a huge financing gap that was negatively impacting the country’s inflation rate worsened by low copper prices adding that the banking sector was currently holding up to 10 percent of bad debt. The Minister said the government would announce the economic recovery program in the coming budget,” reads part of a statement issued by Zambia’s embassy in Washington after the Minister’s closed door meeting.

A few days ago, Ministry of Finance Spokesperson Chileshe Kandeta announced that a team of IMF officials will be in the country this month to meet various stakeholders ahead of an expected financial bailout.

Zambia is heavily reliant on copper sales and the drop in its price has reduced the country’s revenue and increased in inflation.

A few months ago, the Chinese owned Baluba mine in Luanshya was placed on care and maintenance, sending 1,600 workers on forced leave.

Last month, African Rainbow Minerals which holds 40% shares in Chililabombwe-based Lubambe mine, announced that it was selling its stake due to low copper prices.

With this in mind, Mr Mutati, who is barely a month in office, has come up with an economic recovery plan which he hopes will resuscitate the economy.

The plan includes removing subsidies on a number of products in the coming years.

Zambia's US$4.2 Million Irrigation Project Kicks Off

By Paul Shalala in Luanshya

Senior officers at the project site

The World Bank has funded the Zambia Correctional Service (ZCS) to a tune of US$ 4.1 million to set up 21 center points countrywide which are expected to irrigate over 100 hectares of land.

Under the Irrigation Development Support Program run by the ZCS, this funding is aimed at boosting Zambia's food security and reduce hunger.

The installation of these center pivots has already commenced and expectations are that the pivots will be able to produce maize and other crops year round.

Zambia's staple food is maize and the commodity sometimes becomes scarce due to the over reliance of rain water for growing the crop.

One site where the center pivots will be installed is Luanshya District on the Copperbelt.

There, a contractor is already on site and works have commenced.

The Zambia Correctional Service has already dug trenches and cleared the land where the four pivots will be installed.

Greenline Agricultural Service, the company which is installing the pivots, has started installing the first pivot which is expected to be complete within seven days.

"We are finishing the first center pivot within seven days. The remaining three will also finish within a month. We want to hand over this project to government as soon as possible," said Alfred Simfukwe, Greenline Agrultuural Limited Managing Director. 

This project will cost US$1.4 million.

Zambia Correction Service Commissioner General Percy Chato recently visited the Chitwi Prison Farm in Luanshya where the center pivots are being installed.

Trenches have already been dug

Mr Chato said the project is expected to triple the service’s annual output of maize production which is meant to feed prisoners and some surplus sold to the public.

He said once fully operational, the 21 center pivots will help in the production of maize throughout the year and will help reduce mealie meal prices and shortages of the staple food.

"We want to be a major contributor to food security in the country. At the moment, our contribution to national maize output is minimal but when all the 21 center pivots start working, we shall be producing maize in hundreds of hectares," said Mr Chato.

The Zambia Correctional Service was formerly known as the Zambia Prison Service.

Initially, the institution was running farms to feed prisoners but in the recent years, it has gone commercial.

In Kabwe, where the ZCS headquarters are based, the institution runs a milling plant which produces thousands of bags of mealie meal.

ZCS is even running a retail shop in Kabwe where the commodity is sold to the public.

Two Luanshya Families Left Homeless As Sewer Floods Their Houses

By Paul Shalala in Luanshya

Overflowing sewer in Mpatamatu

Two families of Section 27 in Luanshya’s Mpatamatu area are spending nights in the cold and living in fear of diseases following the flooding of their houses by sewer.

On Thursday, sewer from toilets flooded house numbers 275 and 235and destroyed several household goods such as carpets, clothes, mealie meal and food stuffs.

The residents feel they are not safe from waterborne diseases.

The overflowing sewer spread across the whole house destroying everything that was on the floor.

The residents are now worried that their houses are no longer safe as they can contract waterborne diseases any time.

A few hours after the incident, workers from Kafubu Water and Sewerage Company went on the scene and applied lime on the sewer to neutralize it.

"Our officers applied lime on the sewer to neutralise it. We will continue to monitor the situation for any eventualities," said Fales Mwanza, Kafubu Water and Sewerage Company Public Relations Officer.

Those who witnessed the incident were shocked. 

"The sewer which flooded my house was almost knee high. I used a broom to sweep it out of the house and am worried this can bring diseases," said Dickson Kapisha.

Another victim Catherine Chipito had no kind words for the water utility.

"People from Kafubu Water came here and did literally nothing. They only splashed lime outside the house. How about inside? How will we survive with our children? We want them to compensate us," she said.

Government is worried that the dilapidated sewer line which has been serving Mpatamatu area has now started flooding people’s houses.

"We have a very old sewer system in Luanshya. This flooding of houses in Mpatamatu is not the first time. But we are hopeful with the coming of the Danish government funding that the situation will soon improve," said Luanshya District Commissioner Harold Mbaulu.

The houses still have a heavy stench and the occupants can not manage to spend nights inside.

They have removed all their household goods and placed them outside their houses where they are spending their nights.

As the clean up continues, occupants of these houses hope authorities will help disinfect them to ensure their safety.