Tabitha Lilungwe, the Project Director of People’s Action for Accountability and Good Governance in Zambia (PAAGZ,) has always been motivated by her drive to make a difference in the lives of others. She served as a Deputy Managing Editor for Lusaka Star, blogs about menstrual education and is a Human Rights Peer Educator. She understands the importance of making an impact, being impacted in her own personal experiences with others, and is always driven by the need to make a difference in everything she touches. Her story shows us that in our journeys, we meet people to inspire them and to be inspired by them and that to never take things for granted.

This is Tabitha’s story …

Born in 1996 in the Southern parts of Africa, in Lusaka, Zambia, I was always driven by my curiosity of the world but was never sure of the career path to take because of my diverse interests in law, medicine and the social sciences. However, being the second eldest of seven children, our financial resources were limited and this consequently narrowed my choices to what was made available, at the time, which was a government scholarship, to study at the University of Zambia. The secured government scholarship, though, did not enable me to study law. Thus, I selected to pursue a degree in Mass Communications but it later became transparent that it was the right choice as it set me on the path I was destined to pursue.

In 2015, I commenced my studies, and three years later, expanded my networks by joining the global Women in News initiative, provided through the university, which is dedicated to gender equality, diversity, and inclusion across the international news industry. Through this network, I became acquainted with female journalists and ventured into the civil society. Networking with civil society leaders, I developed an interest in community outreach and social justice. I collaborated with and volunteered for various non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including Bloggers of Zambia, Alliance for Community Action, and the Centre for Young Leaders in Africa (CYLA) Zambia.

After graduating with my degree in Mass Communications, in 2020, and officially entering the working world, I was approached by a colleague, a well-known Zambian rapper Pilato, to collaborate with him on his non-profit organization, People’s Action for Accountability and Good Governance in Zambia and was subsequently appointed as the Project Director to facilitate the vision of the organization. 

People’s Action for Accountability and Good Governance in Zambia (PAAGZ) is dedicated to advancing governance and accountability processes in Zambia. It focuses on citizen-driven accountability, inclusive governance, and systemic improvements. The organization strategically positions itself to engage with communities, to encourage civic engagement, voter registration, and participation in general elections. The focus areas of the organization are community-led social accountability and public resource management monitoring, artistic freedom and freedom of expression, grassroots mobilization and community empowerment, promoting political awareness and participation and human rights advocacy.

Driven by its mission, PAAGZ also became involved in many campaign partnerships, including with Magamba of Zimbabwe and Selam of Sweden that have resulted in the defamation of the president law being repealed by the President of Zambia and the launch of the Pan-African Network for Artistic Freedom (PANAF) Zambia, respectively. Many of PAAGZ’s initiatives include projects such Activate, Meet my Debt and Ticheze Zambia. Activate focuses on mobilizing and empowering young people to register and vote in the general elections, Ticheze Zambia provides platforms for amplification of citizens’ voices and promoting government accountability and Meet My Debt is designed to bridge the information gap across, social classes, and to make the debt management discourse accessible to the general public.

Through these respective projects, 800 women and youths, across 13 rural constituencies in Zambia. were positively impacted. We have also successfully amplified the demand for social and democratic accountability. Notably, PAAGZ’s efforts had a tangible influence on political campaign messages for the August 2021 elections, with a substantial voter turnout of 70%, the highest since Zambia’s first multi-party elections in 1991. More than half of the 70% of voters were below the age of 35 and it shows the effectiveness of our projects but also highlights the growing role of young people in shaping the political landscape.

In addition to creating political awareness through PAAGZ, I am driven by my own personal experience of being a 15-year-old girl and not knowing how to manage my periods. Growing up in a conservative society, menstruation is a taboo topic, leading me to realize the prevalent issue of period poverty affecting many young girls in Zambia. As a result of it being a difficult topic to discuss, this inadvertently leads to teenage pregnancies, with approximately 30% of Zambian girls becoming pregnant at aged 18, resulting in higher high-school to university dropouts.

With this in mind, I created a blog Lilungwe Daily to create awareness among young girls but will extend my services from blogging to formally establishing a youth hub, the Harmony Healthy Club, in the near future. Harmony Healthy Club will focus on issues associated with adolescence, early marriages, teenage pregnancies and menstruation. It will also create a safe space, without stigma and discrimination, where sexual education can be discussed, especially in a society that encourages abstinence over comprehensive sexual education. It aims to focus on the well-being of young women and to provide them with sexual and reproductive health, with the long-term goal of reducing teenage pregnancies. Plans for its launch are underway, with the initial roll-out to be introduced in my community, Kanyama, with the aim of expanding to other areas in Zambia.

Throughout all my pursuits, over the years, I always think back to my university days, particularly my friendship with my former classmate, Matilda Chali, who impacted me deeply. We were two peas in a pod and did everything together, from our chosen modules to tutorial groups and even lived at the same student residence. Being 7 years older than me, Matilda inspired me with her story to reach university levels and we vowed and made a promise, to each other, that one day when we are “successful enough”, we would share our story, with the world, but she never got to share hers. Matilda unexpectedly died, shortly after achieving her life-long dream of a university education. At aged 32, she passed away, alone in another province in Zambia, where she was working, with cerebral malaria.

Her passing came as a complete shock to my system and deeply affected me, reminding me of the fragility of life and to share our stories, and experiences, with others. it made me realize the importance of not waiting on second chances because not everyone gets a second chance in life. Sometimes, as I go through my life, I have those moments where I want to call Matilda, to tell her of the latest developments in my life, then in that fraction of a second, I have to remind myself that she is no longer.

As humans, we tend to fool ourselves by thinking that we have time but the clock is always silently ticking in the background. Seize that opportunity that may never come again because while hardships may be temporary, the rewards of success are reverberating. Be present in everything that you do, for yourself and others, because that moment will eventually become a memory. Share the ebbs and flows of your life, the struggles and successes, with others, so that your story becomes your legacy that inspires others to succeed in their own paths. We meet people for a reason and often that reason is to show us how we are all interconnected and to also show us the importance and impact we, as individuals, can have on others.

If you are interested in learning more about Tabitha or would like to get in contact with her, please reach out via the Facebook page, Peoples Action for Accountability and Good Governance in Zambia (PAAGZ) read her blog Lilungwe Daily, or email her at tabitalilungwe@gmail.com or tabitalilungwe@peoplesactionzambia.org