Karen Kalezu is a professional accountant with over eight years of experience in financial management, payroll administration, budgeting, reconciliations, tax compliance and financial reporting. She currently serves as Finance and Administration Officer at the European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES) in Zambia, where she supports the financial and administrative management of the EU-funded PRO DEM Zambia project, ensuring that expenditure, procurement records and financial reporting comply with donor requirements and ECES internal control procedures.

Previously, Karen served as Accounts Assistant at the National Legal Aid Clinic for Women in Livingstone, a programme funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), where she managed client receipts, organisational payments, quarterly budgets and expenditure monitoring. She has also provided freelance accounting services to companies in Lusaka, handling statutory returns and resolving compliance matters with the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA), the National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA), the National Health Insurance Management Authority (NHIMA) and Workers’ Compensation. Earlier in her career she held Assistant Accountant positions at Luvias Investments Limited in Lusaka and Bethesda Christian School in Solwezi, covering payroll processing, PAYE, VAT, NAPSA and NHIMA returns, bank reconciliations, variance analysis and budget preparation.

She holds a Diploma in Accounting as a Certified Accounting Technician (CAT) and has completed the ACCA Skills and Professional level papers at ZCAS University. She is a member of the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA) and of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Karen is proficient in Pastel Sage accounting software and Microsoft Excel, and is recognised for her accuracy, reliability and strong command of internal controls and statutory compliance in donor-funded environments.