SANFROSSA MANYINDA writes @SunZambian
HE attributes the suffering of the residents of Mwembeshi constituency as the reason he joined politics.
Mr Jamba was born on May 9, 1972 in Kasumpula village of Shibuyu nji District.
FAMILY AND MARRIAGE
I am the fourth born of the 11 children of Mr. Mathews and Elizabeth Jamba who are still very much alive.
I unfortunately lost two of my siblings. I grew up on a farm and was herding cattle before I was enrolled into primary school.
I could not be enrolled into school early enough because I was told I could not start school every time I failed to stretch my hand to my ear on the other the other side.
I am married to Miyoba Jamba and we have been blessed with four children. Two boys and two girls.
Our first child Michael is a second-year medical student in China, our second child Susan will be enrolled into law school this month, our third child Machila is in grade two and our youngest Mitchell is seven months old.
My family has been so supportive although they sometimes complain that Iam mostly absent from home.
They are also under stress especially when they are faced with illnesses or bereavements while I am away on national assignments.
EDUCATION AND CAREER
I started my grade one in 1980 at Nampundwe Primary School and in 1987 I qualified to go to Serenje Boys Secondary where I did my junior secondary and two years later I qualified to go to Kabundi Secondary where I completed my senior secondary school education in 1991.
I did not do well at grade 12 and I must confess that Iam not academically intelligent but I can confidently say that I have got other gifts that God has given me.
In 1993, I was employed by ZCCM at Nampundwe Mine as a casual worker under the survey department and I was permanently employed as an underground miner under the mining section in 1994.
In 1995, I was favoured enough and was sent to study mine drafting at the Copperbelt University under ZCCM, a profession that is used by the mines to draft the designs and to work with geologists.
I graduated in 1997 and got back to Nampundwe where I started working in the geology department up to 2001 when joined the ministry of mines as a cartographer.
In 2005, I left ministry of mines and joined Geo Quest Company. I then decided to go back to school in 2010 where I graduated as a land surveyor and I have been doing land surveying up until now.
I have been practicing land surveying despite being Member of Parliament. One would not even notice that I am member of parliament when they find me in the field doing my work.
PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Apart from being a surveyor, I am a prominent farmer. I have a beef farm with 500 hectares and 200 head of cattle for beef production and a dairy farm called Jamba Dairy at 21 miles, where we milk an average of 25 to 26 animals per day.
I am happy because the two farms also keep me busy away from work as MP and a surveyor.
HOW AND WHY HE JOINED POLITICS
I was not happy with whatever was happening in Zambia especially in Mwembeshi constituency. I would listen to parliamentary debates and I realized that there was completely no voice for Mwembeshi.
I was not interested in being a politician but the people of Mwembeshi and relatives asked me if I could stand as area MP because of the community work I was doing in the constituency.
I helped the constituents a lot in almost all areas and in 2013, they approached me and insisted that I run for the seat.
Unfortunately, they wanted me to stand on the UPND ticket but I could not because I did not want to align myself to any political party.
I started doing my work on the ground in the constituency and I remember repairing over 60 boreholes and drilling more than 25 boreholes in various areas in 2013 and 2014.
I became a household name as everybody was talking about me and I started asking myself if standing was a good idea for me.
In 2015, I thought it was inevitable for me stand and of course I wanted to stand on the UPND ticket but they decided not to give me an adoption certificate, a decision which did not go well with the constituents.
They told me that if UPND did not want me to stand on its ticket then I should contest the seat as an independent MP.
I personally did not want to stand on any party ticket but my family got all my documents and forced me to apply on the UPND ticket.
Come 2016, I stood as independent and I emerged victorious and became MP for Mwembeshi.
ANY CHALLENGES FOR BEING AN INDEPENDENT MP?
I do not have any problems working with the government of the day. We share a good working relationship because we are all Zambians and all have the same coffers we use to develop our constituencies.
I go to PF and lobby for funds just like any other citizen because the coffers do not belong to any party but government’s and they belong to the people of Zambia.
I do not care whether some people give me black looks when lobbying as long as I know what Iam doing.
I think it is far much better to be an independent member of parliament than being in a political party because I have my space.
WORD OF ENCOURGEMENT
Zambians must wake up and show politicians that they are not the last resorts.
The other thing people need to understand is that politicians do not get salaries in tandem with the massiveness of jobs they do.
I hear a lot of people saying politicians are thieves I do not know what people can steal if at all there are some who steal.
But to tell you the truth, the job of being a politician is a very difficult job.
WHAT HIS DREAM CONSTITUENCY WILL LOOK LIKE
I want to transform the general outlook of the constituency to improve the livelihoods of the people. I will work on improving the road, health and school infrastructure.
I will improve the status of Nampundwe Road so that I can take economic activities to the constituency.
The road has a lot of economic benefits to Zambia as it connects Nampundwe Mine which produces pyrite as raw materials used in copper production on the Copperbelt.
The road also connects to Kafue Sugar Plantation, Universal Mining and also the Blue Lagoon National park.
The improvement of the road will also help the growth of small businesses and improve the people’s way of life.
I want to build a secondary school to improve easy access to secondary education for the pupils in the area.
I am willing to work with the government of the day to foster national development and improve the livelihoods of the people of Mwembeshi.
The suffering of the people has been my source of motivation behind my political interest.
FUTURE POLITICAL ASPIRATIONS
I would not want be minister or something, remember I earlier told you that I did not want to be a politician in the first place. My wish is to see my people living better lives.
INSPIRATION
My family has been the greatest inspiration especially the children that I adopted. My church members have also been helping me a lot and I thank them abundantly.
