News / National
Jonathan Mayo fires Magaya - Press Statement
17 Feb 2014 at 20:44hrs | Views
PRESS STATEMENT
17 February 2014
Following the announcement yesterday of Dr Dennis Magaya as the chairman of the new ZBC board, the Ministry regrets to advise that his appointment both to the board and its chair has been withdrawn.
This is after the Ministry learnt today that despite Dr Magaya's previous submissions, backed by a documented record, his consultancy services to Powertel face serious allegations some of which have been previously raised by some sections of the media. The allegations are that he has been a recipient of inflated consultancy fees and that he has been an undeserving beneficiary of the corruption of tender procedures by the recently dissolved Powertel board. Powertel falls under the Ministry of Energy and Power Development.
In particular and of great concern to the Ministry, it has since transpired that after designing a $25 million new strategy for Powertel, the recently dissolved Powertel board proceeded to hire Dr Magaya to implement his own design despite the fact that the State Procurement Board (SPB) had specifically disqualified his company from participating in the tender on grounds that he was conflicted as the designer of the strategy which was the subject of the tender.
Accordingly, and not withstanding Dr Magaya's vast experience and impeccable professional background which stood him in good stead to serve on the new ZBC board, the Ministry is unable to retain him as a member and chairman of the board given that the allegations he faces at Powertel precisely echo the rot that has bedevilled ZBC. The challenges in parastatals or state enterprises require zero toleranceI to corruption in all its manifestations.
Meanwhile, Father Gibson Munyoro has been appointed to replace Dr Magaya as chair of the new ZBC board. In turn, the vacancy created by Father Munyoro's elevation to the chair has been filled by Mr Pritchard Zhou. Mr Zhou is a retired diplomat who served Zimbabwe in the USA and in South Africa. He holds an MA in Psychology from the University of Zambia and his research interests include multimedia and society.
Hon. Professor Jonathan Mayo
Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services
Download: PRESS STATEMENT
17 February 2014
Following the announcement yesterday of Dr Dennis Magaya as the chairman of the new ZBC board, the Ministry regrets to advise that his appointment both to the board and its chair has been withdrawn.
This is after the Ministry learnt today that despite Dr Magaya's previous submissions, backed by a documented record, his consultancy services to Powertel face serious allegations some of which have been previously raised by some sections of the media. The allegations are that he has been a recipient of inflated consultancy fees and that he has been an undeserving beneficiary of the corruption of tender procedures by the recently dissolved Powertel board. Powertel falls under the Ministry of Energy and Power Development.
Accordingly, and not withstanding Dr Magaya's vast experience and impeccable professional background which stood him in good stead to serve on the new ZBC board, the Ministry is unable to retain him as a member and chairman of the board given that the allegations he faces at Powertel precisely echo the rot that has bedevilled ZBC. The challenges in parastatals or state enterprises require zero toleranceI to corruption in all its manifestations.
Meanwhile, Father Gibson Munyoro has been appointed to replace Dr Magaya as chair of the new ZBC board. In turn, the vacancy created by Father Munyoro's elevation to the chair has been filled by Mr Pritchard Zhou. Mr Zhou is a retired diplomat who served Zimbabwe in the USA and in South Africa. He holds an MA in Psychology from the University of Zambia and his research interests include multimedia and society.
Hon. Professor Jonathan Mayo
Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services
Download: PRESS STATEMENT
Source - Professor Jonathan Mayo
