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Mashudu Netsianda Senior Reporter
PROFESSOR Jonathan Moyo, the Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services, has appointed an 11-member Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) board chaired by telecoms entrepreneur and ICT expert, Dr Dennis Magaya.Dr Magaya, 44, is expected to spearhead restructuring and turnaround efforts of the public broadcaster.

Prof Moyo said the appointments came after consultations that started immediately after the dissolution of a previous board led by Cuthbert Dube on November 14 last year. The previous board had shortcomings that led to, among other issues, payment of hefty packages to some executives and non-payment of salaries to ordinary staff for six months in 2013.

Prof Moyo said the new ZBC board would assume its duties “with immediate effect,” after getting the approval of President Robert Mugabe.

He said the new board members were appointed to ensure ZBC had the right skills mix to make it a commercially viable and technologically sound entity.

“Among other urgent tasks before it, the new ZBC board is expected, and indeed required, to restructure and turnaround ZBC to ensure it has the right skills to make it commercially viable and technologically sound as a public broadcaster with a national mandate in light of the challenges of digital migration and the requirements of Zimbabwe’s new Constitution and informed by the outcome of the forensic and strategy audit of the ZBC that is about to be done by independent auditors under the auspices of the Comptroller and Auditor-General,” the minister said in a statement.

“Each and every member of the board has been appointed in their own right with the expectation that they will each and all constructively contribute to the well-being and success of the ZBC not as stand-alone or unaccountable individuals, but as organic parts of one dynamic collective, the ZBC board, whose members will support one another and work together driven by a common and unifying national broadcasting purpose,” said Prof Moyo.

Other board members are Dr Ndabezinhle Dlodlo, Phyllis Johnson, Gelfand Kausiyo, Donald Khumalo, Joyce Jenje-Makwenda, Dr Charity Manyeruke, Rudo Mudavanhu, Father Gibson Munyoro, Dr Cleopatra Matanhire-Mutisi and Blessing Rugara.

They replace the Dr Cuthbert Dube-led board whose members were Bob Nyabinde, Doreen Sibanda, Clemence Mabaso, Bishop Trevor Manhanga, Brigadier-General Felix Muchemwa (Rtd), Major-General Gibson Mashingaidze, Farai Mutamangira, Job Jonhera and Engineer Martin Manuhwa.

Dr Magaya is a telecoms entrepreneur with vast experience in telecommunications and broadcasting. He has established and led benchmark ICT and telecoms projects in Zimbabwe, Malawi, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania and South Sudan.

He is the son of the late member of the Zanla High Command Arthur Magaya – whose Chimurenga name was Soul Sadza – who died in combat in 1976 in Manica Province during the liberation struggle.

Dr Dlodlo is the chair of the Department of Publishing at the National University of Science and Technology. He holds a doctorate in Divinity Studies and is a minister of religion with solid credentials in the publishing industry.

He is a former executive director and managing director of Longman in Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia. Johnson is a founding director of the Harare-based Southern African Research and Documentation Centre. She also helped found the Zimbabwe Publishing House, the Zimbabwe International Book Fair, and the African Publishing Group. She is an internationally-acclaimed journalist, broadcaster, writer and editor.

Kausiyo is a South Africa-based Zimbabwean broadcast engineer who trained at ZBC before leading the technical unit of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) as its chief technology officer. He is well versed in digital migration from analogue broadcasting as well as in regulatory frameworks of diverse media platforms in Southern Africa.
Khumalo is a social and development activist with interests in rural communications and agriculture. He has initiated successful business initiatives to empower communities by giving them platforms for self-expression through modern communication strategies, especially broadcasting.

Jenje-Makwenda has much experience as a freelance broadcaster, journalist, multimedia archivist, writer and television producer. She is well-known for making critical documentaries on the history of Zimbabwean music as well as on women’s and children’s issues.
Jenje-Makwenda is a leading defender of artistes’ rights through protection of their copyrights.

Dr Manyeruke is acting chair of the Department of Political and Administrative Studies at the University of Zimbabwe, and deputy chair of the Ethiopia-based Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA). Her research interests include the interface between media and society and its impact on national development.

Mudavanhu is a leading executive in the local telecommunications industry and is renowned for her cutting-edge innovations. She has vast experience in the telecoms sector and the challenges of the looming convergence between the sector and broadcasting technologies. She is currently chief operations officer at Africom Holdings. In 2010, she was awarded industry recognition as ICT Businesswoman of the Year.

Fr Munyoro is a respected Roman Catholic cleric with a passion for peace and national development locally and in the region. Under the auspices of Silveria House, Fr Munyoro has initiated and led community initiatives that impact on the youth and the greater society through the media.

Dr Matanhire-Mutisi is an experienced senior executive with the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra). As a holder of a doctorate in the field, she is an expert in financial management, taxation, accounting practices and in budget development and management.

Rugara is a top Zimbabwean investment advisor based in South Africa whose own advisory services firm has generated $3 billion in successful transactions in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Angola, Mozambique, Zambia, Swaziland, India and the United States.

He is a turnaround strategist and an expert in corporate law, structured finance, mergers and acquisitions.