NEBBY MULAISHO: from driver to lawyer

IT IS said the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work. 

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them - and that is exactly what former Zambia Daily Mail driver Nebby Mulaisho has done - pursue his dream of becoming a lawyer.

Mr Mulaisho, 43, who is married to Mara Mushili, with whom he has five children, attended Kambosha and Kapila primary schools before completing his Grade 12 at Mkushi Secondary school in 1996.

“After school, I sold some cooking oil at some market in Kitwe where I used part of the profits there to get a driving license sometime in 2000,” he says. “

Mr Mulaisho then moved to Lusaka and worked for Shonga Steel as a metal fabricator, Tau Risk as a security guard and also Pan-African Distributors as a salesman, before landing a one year contract with Zambia Daily Mail in 2005 as driver.

“Even as I was working here, I had not given up on my dream of becoming a lawyer one day. I kept telling myself that I will raise enough money and go to school, and I eventually did that,” he says.

After his contract with Zambia Daily Mail ended, Mr Mulaisho went on to work for Fedex as a courier before being employed in government under the Ministry of Works and Supply as a driver.

It was while at the Ministry of Works and Supply, in 2009, that he enrolled at the National Institute of Public Administration (NIPA) to study law. He graduated with a diploma in law in 2012.

“In 2014, I decided it was time for me to go for my degree and that is how I decided to enroll at the Zambia Open University. I deferred a year, due to finances but I am glad to have resumed soon after,” he says.

He says it was gratifying to be among the law students graduating in October 2021.

“It was very fulfilling to me. I have plans of going for a masters of arts degree and maybe get admitted to the bar, but first, I know I have to pass the test at the Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education (ZIALE). Those are things I will do eventually, with time,” he says.

Mr Mulaisho said American lawyer Courtney Griffiths who represented former Liberia president Charles Taylor at The Hague has had a great influence on his journey.

“I am a key follower of very difficult cases and Ms Griffiths inspired me a lot. I follow and learn from her experiences religiously. I have also drawn inspiration and support from my close friends and acquaintances such as Steven Nyondo, Naomi Hara and Dr Munyonzwe Hamalengwa who always encouraged me to keep studying,” he says.

Mr Mulaisho says working as a driver exposed him to a lot of places and situations that cemented his desire to study law.

“At one point, while on duty in some prisons, I interacted with a number of inmates and realised that a lot of them need legal representation. That, to me, just told me to keep pushing,” he says.

He says the other driving force has always been his family, especially children. He says he decided to set the bar so high that his children can learn that they too can become anything they want to become in future.

“I see everything I do as a stepping stone. Being a driver, people tend to look down on you so many times thinking that you cannot be anything more than being just a driver. There is a lot of ridicule that comes with this job, but for me, I just had to curve my own path and prove people wrong,” he says.

He says education is the greatest equaliser in the universe.

“I believe that anyone can achieve anything with an education and it makes you useful in society too,” he says.

He adds: “I will support my children up to the end. One of them completed grade 12 and intends to study engineering and the youngest is a just under two years old.”

Mr Mulaisho is currently seconded to the country's electoral body, Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ).