Kasonde Chungu Chola

History: Young Expert at WaterWorX - Zambia
YEP period 2018 - 2020, batch Tm1

Position after YEP

Superintendent at Ministry of Higher Educaiton, Zambia

YEP Role

As a Young Expert on the WWX programme, my duties are to assist the Project Coordinator (PC) and Resident Project Manager (RPM) on the following activities:

• Coordination and follow up of activities of the theme leaders, (i.e. Non Revenue Water, Asset Management, Water Quality, Pro Poor, Commercial Processes, Financial management, Peer to Peer Learning and Human Resource)
• Ppreparation of agendas and minutes for periodic WWX project meetings
• Alignment of the project key performance indicators (KPIs)  to the donor recommendations
• Expediting on purchase of goods and services for the project by working with theme leaders on the needs and ensuring all necessary documentation is prepared and submitted to the relevant offices for the purchase
• Help with the coordination of the short term missions between the experts and (NWSC)
• Ensuring effective communication and information flow between the project and NWSC management
• Project monitoring and evaluation of the project activities against set KPIs

Click here for more information about my project.

Skills

• Excellent communication skills
• Great leadership skills and team player
• Good report writing skills
• Fair negotiator
• Good time management

Nationality: Zambian
Education: BSc. Real Estate, certificate in Psycho Socio Counselling; certificate in Auto CAD, certificate in the practical use and management of contracts under the FIDIC 1999 contracts

Experience before YEP

Before joining the YEP programme, I was and still working in the engineering department as an estates/insurance office. My day to day activities include the following:

• Responsible for building maintenance and repair of water treatment plants, Storage ware house, laboratories, mechanical warehouses, sewerage treatment plants,  water distribution centers, high rise water towers, concrete ground water reservoirs, office blocks, sewerage ponds, water clarifier chambers, commercial centers, paypoints and residential housing units
• Recommend, plan and implement building alterations, extensions and renovations and new constructions
• Recommend, plan and supervise building contractual jobs and manage the hired contractors, and commission all complete works
• Prepare and plan building repair and maintenance schedules
• Prepare Bill of Quantities, work plans and material schedules to effect procurement of services and  contracts to rehabilitate, refurbish and new constructions
• Plan, prepare and manage the estates budgets periodically
• Appraise junior staff performance by conducting the employee balance score cards for the junior staff within the estates section
• Assist procurement and legal departments in formulating various kinds of contracts
• Prepares periodical reports for the section to management
• Prepares purchase requisitions to effect the procurement of goods and services
• Prepares terms of references for all contractual rehabilitation, refurbishment and maintenance works
• Responsible for Liaison and negotiating with the landlords of the properties being rented by the organisation
• Preparation of the lease agreements with the help of the legal directorate 
• As Estates officer, I am also in charge of the insurance of all company assets. I file in claims with the organisation’s broker, make follow ups and ensure timely settlement of all claims
• I work with the legal department in ensuring smooth conveyancing and transfers of properties including land