Opinion / Columnist
ZBC CEO appointment stinks
15 Mar 2018 at 08:57hrs | Views
The appointment of Patrick Mavhura as ZBC chief executive officer (CEO) ahead of those who had fared better in interviews is a scandal.
As exclusively reported by the Daily News yesterday out of the 15 people interviewed for the top ZBC post, Mavhura was seventh, and was not even part of the final shortlist.
Whatever happens at ZBC is of interest because this is a public broadcaster oiled by people's taxes and as such, Zimbabweans have every right to be concerned when things go wrong at the institution.
And it is scandalous for ZBC to hire a recruitment agency in the first place, which should have cost the broadcaster thousands of dollars.
In its disregard of fairness, employment ethics and professionalism, the ZBC board bizarrely ordered the agency to re-do interviews and Mavhura - who went on to land the top job - was interviewed.
Initially, Mavhura had scored below the 50 percent mark and how he managed a mark above 50 percent in the second interview is suspicious.
Apart from the thousands of dollars paid to the agency, a number of professionals were hoodwinked to legitimise a dubious process performed for a nonexistent post, so to say.
And ZBC board should not take this lightly because those who did well and were positioned to take over the job by virtue of being better can actually sue the broadcaster for that.
You listen to ZBC board chairperson Father Gibson Munyoro and you feel sorry for him as he tried to wriggle out of this mess.
Munyoro told the Daily News that while Mavhura had lost in the interviews, some of the candidates did not do as well in the vetting process.
Really? Is the cleric trying to tell the nation that the top four candidates who passed the interviews were risky candidates? It doesn't add up at all!
This kind of behaviour cannot be what the new order President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government has been preaching about.
The ZBC case could only be the tip of an iceberg.
Opposition parties in the country have always been suspicious of ZBC appointments and considering that Mavhura is an ex-army official, the puzzle gets mazy.
This will fuel the opposition's suspicion that reforms at ZBC are far from coming, especially when those in power exerted pressure on the recruitment agency to appoint their man!
As exclusively reported by the Daily News yesterday out of the 15 people interviewed for the top ZBC post, Mavhura was seventh, and was not even part of the final shortlist.
Whatever happens at ZBC is of interest because this is a public broadcaster oiled by people's taxes and as such, Zimbabweans have every right to be concerned when things go wrong at the institution.
And it is scandalous for ZBC to hire a recruitment agency in the first place, which should have cost the broadcaster thousands of dollars.
In its disregard of fairness, employment ethics and professionalism, the ZBC board bizarrely ordered the agency to re-do interviews and Mavhura - who went on to land the top job - was interviewed.
Initially, Mavhura had scored below the 50 percent mark and how he managed a mark above 50 percent in the second interview is suspicious.
Apart from the thousands of dollars paid to the agency, a number of professionals were hoodwinked to legitimise a dubious process performed for a nonexistent post, so to say.
You listen to ZBC board chairperson Father Gibson Munyoro and you feel sorry for him as he tried to wriggle out of this mess.
Munyoro told the Daily News that while Mavhura had lost in the interviews, some of the candidates did not do as well in the vetting process.
Really? Is the cleric trying to tell the nation that the top four candidates who passed the interviews were risky candidates? It doesn't add up at all!
This kind of behaviour cannot be what the new order President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government has been preaching about.
The ZBC case could only be the tip of an iceberg.
Opposition parties in the country have always been suspicious of ZBC appointments and considering that Mavhura is an ex-army official, the puzzle gets mazy.
This will fuel the opposition's suspicion that reforms at ZBC are far from coming, especially when those in power exerted pressure on the recruitment agency to appoint their man!
Source - dailynews
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