News / National
New ICSAZ President urges chartered secretaries to focus on future
11 Jul 2016 at 14:26hrs | Views
The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators in Zimbabwe (ICSAZ) has elected National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board (NIEEB) finance manager George Mahembe as its new president.
ITRite Solutions managing consultant Dr Paradza Paradza and Rural Electrification Agency finance director Mrs Ferida Matambo were elected vice presidents after the institute's recent annual general meeting on June 28 at Dzidzo House in Harare.
Mr Mahembe, who has more than 15 years' experience in finance, accounting, auditing, strategy and corporate administration, believes it is important for the institute to be forward looking and to involve younger people in its leadership. Mr Mahembe is a fellow of the institute and holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Zimbabwe.
He said chartered secretaries should focus on the future and pave the way for sustainable development. His understanding of the dynamics of the institute would enable him to drive the institute's current strategy towards greater milestones during his one-year tenure as president, he said.
Mr Mahembe completed his ICSAZ studies in 2003. He was admitted to the institute as a chartered secretary in 2006, after which he was immediately appointed to the Education and Examination Committee of the Institute of Business and Accounting Studies (IBAS), a subsidiary of ICSAZ, and the IBAS Council.
Mr Mahembe was elected to the ICSAZ Council in 2013. He was elected vice-president in 2015, leading to his election as president for 2016/2017.
As a council member, he has served on various committees, including the ICSAZ Executive, Finance and General Purpose Committee, Marketing and Strategy Committee, and Membership and Professional Competence Committee. He was chairman of the Marketing and Strategy Committee from 2014 to 2016.
He is the institute's representative on the Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA) Technical and Standards Setting Committee (TSSC). He sits on the Public Accountants and Auditors Board (PAAB).
So important does he believe it is for the institute to direct its attention to the future that he has adopted "The Focus is on the Future: Look Back, Look Forward and Look Out" as the theme for his presidential term.
"The future is the only space where doors are still open. We should not focus on the past but read and learn from it and use it to model ourselves for a better future.
"The Chartered Secretary profession is the key that can open future doors. The future can be created, dreamt of and remodelled from past experiences.
"The past exists in 'read-only' mode. It might not provide any indication of the future but will provide the first step towards milestones to be achieved in days ahead," he said.
Mr Mahembe added that the future Chartered Secretary should harness and take advantage of developments in information communication technology.
"There should be less people-to-people contact, as communication can be done via the internet. Networking can be done on a wider scale without physically seeing people as well. These can be viewed as virtual relationships.
"Real-time and online information dissemination via a vibrant website and web-enabled technologies is also vital," he said.
He pointed out that many companies in Zimbabwe, both public and private, have had governance challenges.
He said the institute, as the recognised influential global voice on governance matters, should not just remain a 'voice' but provide solutions to the identified governance problems in organisations.
The institute could achieve this objective by constantly working in partnership with industry and commerce, government and other regulators to achieve the desired good corporate governance objectives. "The spotlight has fallen on company secretaries' and public accountants' responsibility to act in the public interest. "People have asked: 'Where was the company secretary or accountant when these organisations were caught up in governance problems?'
"ICSAZ should take a broad, long-term view of the public interest and promote Chartered Secretaries in practice and industry as facilitators of sustainable long-term growth through responsible business and ethical behaviour," he said.
He said there had been only incremental adjustments to rapid changes in the market. There had been a general unwillingness to adopt radical changes because of the cultural tradition in many professional associations.
As chairman of the institute's Marketing and Strategy Committee, Mr Mahembe steered the development of the ICSAZ 2015-17 strategy in terms of its financial outcomes and quality service delivery and ensuring sufficient resources were in place to deliver it.
Since the strategy's adoption a year ago, he has taken a particular interest in the information technology project to improve communication with members, students and other key stakeholders.
"The website has been revamped and will continue to be improved to be the first point of contact with members, students and aspiring chartered secretaries," he said.
ITRite Solutions managing consultant Dr Paradza Paradza and Rural Electrification Agency finance director Mrs Ferida Matambo were elected vice presidents after the institute's recent annual general meeting on June 28 at Dzidzo House in Harare.
Mr Mahembe, who has more than 15 years' experience in finance, accounting, auditing, strategy and corporate administration, believes it is important for the institute to be forward looking and to involve younger people in its leadership. Mr Mahembe is a fellow of the institute and holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Zimbabwe.
He said chartered secretaries should focus on the future and pave the way for sustainable development. His understanding of the dynamics of the institute would enable him to drive the institute's current strategy towards greater milestones during his one-year tenure as president, he said.
Mr Mahembe completed his ICSAZ studies in 2003. He was admitted to the institute as a chartered secretary in 2006, after which he was immediately appointed to the Education and Examination Committee of the Institute of Business and Accounting Studies (IBAS), a subsidiary of ICSAZ, and the IBAS Council.
Mr Mahembe was elected to the ICSAZ Council in 2013. He was elected vice-president in 2015, leading to his election as president for 2016/2017.
As a council member, he has served on various committees, including the ICSAZ Executive, Finance and General Purpose Committee, Marketing and Strategy Committee, and Membership and Professional Competence Committee. He was chairman of the Marketing and Strategy Committee from 2014 to 2016.
He is the institute's representative on the Pan African Federation of Accountants (PAFA) Technical and Standards Setting Committee (TSSC). He sits on the Public Accountants and Auditors Board (PAAB).
So important does he believe it is for the institute to direct its attention to the future that he has adopted "The Focus is on the Future: Look Back, Look Forward and Look Out" as the theme for his presidential term.
"The future is the only space where doors are still open. We should not focus on the past but read and learn from it and use it to model ourselves for a better future.
"The Chartered Secretary profession is the key that can open future doors. The future can be created, dreamt of and remodelled from past experiences.
"The past exists in 'read-only' mode. It might not provide any indication of the future but will provide the first step towards milestones to be achieved in days ahead," he said.
Mr Mahembe added that the future Chartered Secretary should harness and take advantage of developments in information communication technology.
"There should be less people-to-people contact, as communication can be done via the internet. Networking can be done on a wider scale without physically seeing people as well. These can be viewed as virtual relationships.
"Real-time and online information dissemination via a vibrant website and web-enabled technologies is also vital," he said.
He pointed out that many companies in Zimbabwe, both public and private, have had governance challenges.
He said the institute, as the recognised influential global voice on governance matters, should not just remain a 'voice' but provide solutions to the identified governance problems in organisations.
The institute could achieve this objective by constantly working in partnership with industry and commerce, government and other regulators to achieve the desired good corporate governance objectives. "The spotlight has fallen on company secretaries' and public accountants' responsibility to act in the public interest. "People have asked: 'Where was the company secretary or accountant when these organisations were caught up in governance problems?'
"ICSAZ should take a broad, long-term view of the public interest and promote Chartered Secretaries in practice and industry as facilitators of sustainable long-term growth through responsible business and ethical behaviour," he said.
He said there had been only incremental adjustments to rapid changes in the market. There had been a general unwillingness to adopt radical changes because of the cultural tradition in many professional associations.
As chairman of the institute's Marketing and Strategy Committee, Mr Mahembe steered the development of the ICSAZ 2015-17 strategy in terms of its financial outcomes and quality service delivery and ensuring sufficient resources were in place to deliver it.
Since the strategy's adoption a year ago, he has taken a particular interest in the information technology project to improve communication with members, students and other key stakeholders.
"The website has been revamped and will continue to be improved to be the first point of contact with members, students and aspiring chartered secretaries," he said.
Source - Agencies
