Zambian Society In Botswana Growing From Humble Beginnings

As the continent celebrates the month of Africa we check on the Zambians based in Botswana to sample how their stay here has been enhanced Kenny Mkandawire’s long cherished dream of uniting his fellow nationals, the Zambians based in Botswana has painstakingly come to fruition. Mkandawire, who is an electrical technologist in power electrical.

He is also a holder of an advanced technician’s certificate in electrical and electronics and an academician with a diploma in technical teaching from Teachers Vocational Technical College (TVTC) in Luanshya district on the Copper Belt of Zambia. He arrived in Botswana some 20 years ago in 1998 and got involved with a handful of local companies before teaming up with some Batswana to launch their own business of industrial laundry and catering machines repair service and supply. “Despite the normal work, I still find time to serve in our organization called Zambian Society in Botswana on voluntary basis for the sake of our community,” he told CEO Africa magazine.

According to Mkandawire, the Zambian Society in Botswana is a legally registered association of Zambians in Botswana. “The society is an NGO and as such we operate under the confines of the rules and regulations that guides Non-governmental organizations in Botswana. We have had Zambian nationals in Botswana as early as the 70’s and all this time, Zambians identified themselves in cluster groups such as same profes- sionals or religious groupings as well as social or entrainment disciplines. This kind of set up had its limitations when it comes to living in the diaspora,” he lamented.

As is the case with many foreign nationals, the birth of the Zambian Society was anchored on the quest of uniting Zambians. He added that some of the stand out objectives ZSB adopted were to promote friendshipness among members, groups and nationals of other countries. “We also promote social and cultural heritage of Zambia through social gatherings, education and other form of interac- tions. ZSB render collective, personal sentimental or any other form of spiritual or material support to its members or their families in times of needy such as but not remitted to illness, death of a member or any of its family member.”

For the past three years, ZSB as an organization, has made positive strides in so many areas. For example, they have developed synergies with the office of the High Commis- sioner when they organizing National Independence Day celebrations. “Not only that,” added Mkandawire, “if we have a bereavement in our community, we rehearse with them and other stake holders to make sure that the intended task is carried out collectively. We also recognize the fact that as much as we have been welcomed in this beautiful land of Botswana, it is our responsibility to plough back into the community by donating to drop in centers like the one at Gamodubu, at the peripheries of Gaborone on your way to Molepolole.”

“On behalf of the society and Zambians, I appreciate the team spirit that exists between Zambian society in Botswana and the Zambian High Commission. This was evident when we were in lockdown due to the Covid pandemic. We as Zambians organized ourselves and those that were in the right footing in terms of resources and in kind, had to put the resources together and with the help of the embassy, we managed to distribute food hampers to the affected Zambian families that had no food during the lockdown periods.

Zambians are integral part of society as Batswana, and they would like to see Zambians and stakeholders, coordinate and come up with a meaningful product and produces that have value addition. “For example this business is harnessed properly, it can create employment to many youths and young women of our two nationals as opposed to favoring multinational companies in such easy to do business but lucrative.”

With the advent of the Kazungula bridge, Mkandawire is hopeful that the two governments would give chance to the ordinary citizens to explore what Batswana markets can offer and bring what they can from Zambia and vice versa. “As a chairperson and executive of ZSB, we have a deliberate policy in our operation of always doing things in the confine of the law. As an NGO, we have advised our mem- bers not to bring politics on our ZSB forums but are very free to follow and engage in politics on other forum that were created for that purpose to inform, educate and debate with civility.

With such an arrangement, we have gotten trust from all walks of life of Zambians in Botswana such that even when we request for donations during bereavements or whatever project we require to accomplish, we always attain our target. Leading people of different background can be challenging because not all will agree to your style of leadership. But what is more important is to first trust in the supreme maker who is Almighty God. Because with God all things are possible.

Mkandawire noted that staying in diaspora has its ups and downs. “It is always safe to ensure that your presence in the host country is legit and make yourself known to the Zambian embassy or our office as Zambian Society in Botswana. This makes it easier in cases of unevantuality to a person or family. Zambians in diaspora, know that together we can.”