One of the reasons former Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation
(ZBC) chief executive officer Adelaide Chikurungu was pushed out was because
she allegedly acquired a Starlink internet kit for the state broadcaster
despite the government position that it is illegal, it has been revealed.
Starlink is a satellite internet service operated by
American aerospace company Spacex, which is owned by Elon Musk.
Zimbabwe has not licenced
Starlink and last month a Chinese firm was charged for using the service
illegally.
Images of a ZBC outside broadcast van with a Starlink kit
on top surfaced on the internet and there were attempts to deny that the state
controlled broadcaster was using the service, but this publication can now
reveal that one of the reasons Chikurungu was being dragged into a disciplinary
hearing related to the kit.
She resigned a few days after she was suspended in a
humiliating manner as ZBC immediately took away her service car and cell
phones.
Chikurungu was also ordered not to set foot at ZBC premises
and to stop using her work email in order for investigations against her to run
smoothly.
To avoid a disciplinary hearing, the former ZBC boss threw
in the towel on Friday.
One of the charges she was facing was that she presided
over the purchase of the Starlink internet device from former Information
minister Monica Mutsvangwa’s son Neville.
Previously, ZBC used Live View, and Aviworth internet
services for live streaming in rural areas where connectivity from local mobile
network operators was non-existent.
ZBC failed to honour its contractual obligations with
LiveView and Aviwest Streamhub, which saw the broadcaster being cut off and the
executives are said to have latched onto Starlink as a stop gap measure.
The ZBC board felt
Chikunguru exposed the national broadcaster to a serious security threat by
engaging a company whose data policies local authorities were not very familiar
with.
“The board feels the purchase of a Starlink kit, which is
not registered in Zimbabwe was a violation of the law and posed a very serious
national security threat,” said a senior ZBC manager on condition of anonymity.
“Since it’s not registered in the country, it also posed a
serious reputational risk to ZBC.”
Chikunguru is also accused of forcing ZBC to pay US$150 000
annually to Azam TV, a satellite TV provider launched in the country by Monica
Mutsvangwa in January 2022.
Without committing any resources to production, ZBC paid
US$150 000 annually to Azam to carry an entertainment channel Jive TV.
Chikunguru is said to have presided over the deal, which
was given the green light by Mutsvangwa.
ZBC did not fund a single production for the channel
despite the huge monies that were being paid to Azam.
She is also accused of failing to prepare for the coverage
of last year’s elections where the broadcaster did not have radio presenters
and news and current affairs reporters
operating without vehicles for journalists.
Chikunguru was also being investigated for “purchasing”
controversial awards using ZBC money.
ZBC forked out US$5 939.98 for several awards from
Perfection Media, MegaFest Holdings, Zimbabwe Corporate Trust, Marketers
Association of Zimbabwe, the CSR Network Zimbabwe and The Environmental
Management Agency (EMA) Responsible Business & Environmental Stewardship
Awards from November 2021 to end of 2023, information obtained by The Standard
shows.
The national broadcaster was forced to buy pricy tables at
the award ceremonies where Chikunguru’s was feted.
Sources said
Chikunguru was accused of causing
the payment of US$15 000 to a company, African Leadership (UK) Limited that is
registered in England and the Wales under the guise that it was for advertising
ZBC in the magazine owned by the company.
The firm curiously gave an African Female Leadership Award
to Chikunguru.
She is also being investigated for various financial and
corporate malpractices that included travelling outside the country without
board approval and claiming amounts that
were beyond those stippled in ZBC
policies for accommodation, airtime and taxi fares.
A fortnight ago, this publication exposed serious
clashes between Chikunguru’s management
and ZBC workers over poor working
conditions.
In a letter to the ZBC board, the workers accused
Chikunguru of making decisions that made their conditions of service
unbearable.
The workers accused Chikunguru, human resource director
Julius Toringepi, and corporate secretary Patricia Muchengwa of undermining the
ZBC board.
The workers accused
the trio of deliberately delaying
processes to have workers’ salaries increased as a way of sabotaging
Helliate Rushwaya’s new board.
In a letter to Information minister Jenfan Muswere dated
November 14, 2023, the workers also complained about travel and subsistence
allowances, which they said were below what was set in ZBC policies.
“Whilst all this has been happening, reports have it that
ZBC executives have been submitting budgets to the Office of the President and
Cabinet indicating that they are paying employees around US$135 for every day
spent out when in essence they have been paying an equivalent of US$25 at
interbank,” the letter to Muswere reads.
“This has left employees frustrated and thus contemplating
to take a rest from outside broadcast coverages till the issue has been
resolved.”
Rushwaya could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Standard
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