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Heads roll at ZBC - CEO fired over election outcome
Stanley Kwenda, The Financial Gazette (Zimbabwe)
May 17, 2008

http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=18793

The chief executive officer of Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH) Henry Muradzikwa has been fired reportedly for failing to handle Zanu PF's campaign for the March 29 general and presidential elections, which were won by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and its leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Although the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has ruled that there was no clear winner in the March 29 presidential election on the grounds that all the four presidential candidates failed to poll more than 50 percent of the votes cast, the ruling Zanu PF blames ZBH for not campaigning for President Robert Mugabe in a more robust manner, sources told The Financial Gazette last night.

Muradzikwa's sacking yesterday capped a tense period of more than a month when long knives have been out and when accusations and counter accusations have been traded between members of the ruling party as they tried to pinpoint what could have gone wrong in the March 29 elections in which Zanu PF was trounced by the opposition MDC in both the parliamentary and presidential polls. Muradzikwa's fate was decided at an emergency board meeting held at Pocket's Hill last night amid intense pressure from Zanu PF heavyweights pushing for the appointment of conformists from the rank and file at ZBH as the bruised party fights to restore its wounded pride before the presidential run-off. ZBH board chairman, Justin Mutasa, confirmed Muradzikwa's dismissal to The Financial Gazette last night although he chose his words carefully to explain what had become an intense political tussle at Pocket's Hill. "It was an amicable separation and not relieving as you might want to put it. Right now we are undertaking consultations on who will take over from Muradzikwa," said Mutasa.

But when this reporter spoke to Muradzikwa earlier, he said he was at home and was not aware of any meeting being held at Pocket's Hill. "I am not aware of what you are talking about but let me check and confirm with you," said Muradzikwa. Repeated phone calls to get Muradzikwa's side of the story after Mutasa had confirmed his sacking went unanswered. Sources told The Financial Gazette that Muradzikwa was not the only casualty as some top Ministry of Information officials had lost Zanu PF campaign advertising contracts after the party accused them of doing a shoddy job. A company owned by a senior Ministry of Information and Publicity official and a former ZBH editor-in-chief lost a contract to produce political advertisements for the ruling party. The contract is now said to have been clinched by former radio personality Tichaona Matambanadzo, newscaster Hugo Ribatika and MP-elect for Mberengwa East, Makhosini Hlongwane, a former ZBH employee.

It is most likely that a trio led by war veteran Happison Mucheterere, Allan Chiweshe who currently heads Radio Zimbabwe and Petros Masakara will take over the reins at ZBH because of their allegiance to the ruling party. Muradzikwa paid the price because he was considered at one stage to have supported the Simba Makoni faction, raising eyebrows among Zanu PF stalwarts who did not understand why so many of the former finance minister's advertisements were featured both on radio and television. But the root of his troubles, according to sources at ZBH seems to have been the fact that Muradzikwa refused to bow to the whims of politicians during the crucial March 29 polls. Now even the future of other high-ranking ZBH executives hangs in the balance as the ruling party politicians seek to cleanse the public broadcaster of all perceived non-conformists at the Pockets hill. Muradzikwa replaced Susan Makore in 2007 following the unceremonious departure of Makore who had taken over from the controversial Alum Mpofu appointed by Jonathan Moyo during his time as junior minister of information and publicity.

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