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Isdore Guvamombe Tourism Matrix
The Commonwealth University in collaboration with London Graduate School has conferred combative Zimbabwe Tourism Authority chief executive Mr Karigoka Kaseke with an Honorary Doctorate in Public Administration.
Loathe or like him, Dr Kaseke, has a combative leadership style, or should we call it Command leadership? What he touches works.
Dr Kaseke is the chief marketer of the national tourism brand, Zimbabwe a World of Wonders and by that token has trudged the world, making Zimbabwe’s case.
For more than a decade I have worked with him and to him, work does not start at 8 am and end by the tick of the clock at 5pm. Never. A meeting can start at 5pm and go into the wee hours of the night and he is unfazed.
This happens locally and abroad. He never tires. My first real encounter with Dr Kaseke was in Moscow, Russia about a decade ago.
We were attending a travel expo and I was part of the Zimbabwean delegation. After a day of hard work, we retired to bed but around 10pm there was a knock on my door. Sleepy, bleary-eyed and yawning I opened the door and there he was in suit without tie, inviting me for a meeting.
I took it as a joke and went back to bed. As soon as I started sinking into deep slumber, there was a knock again. This time around, a hard one.
I woke up and opened the door, he looked surprised that I had slept again. He made it clear he was serious about the meeting. I woke up grudgingly just washed my face, dressed up and went for the meeting.
He was looking surprisingly fresh. He was coming from another meeting that he went to attend at 7 pm. Suffice to say, the whole day, he had been meeting exhibitor after exhibitor at the expo.
The meeting effectively started and he proved too intelligent and polished for his job. It was a post-mortem of the events of the day and thereafter he immediately signposted the next day’s events. At around 1145 pm the meeting was over.
We were up at 6 am and there he was, leading us to another meeting. The 6pm arrangement was meant to beat the Moscow traffic jam.
It was another hectic day and we had six meetings, one of them with Vice President Phelekezela Mphoko, that time the Zimbabwean Ambassador to Russia.
For a decade, I have worked with Dr Kaseke has not shown signs of slowing down. He is one of the few hands-on chief executive I have seen. When things happen he is there.
So when London-based institution confer Honorary Doctorate on him, I see it differently. Our own Universities should have seen Kaseke’s efforts in marketing Zimbabwe.
In the citation sent through the London Graduate School, the Commonwealth University says, “you (Kaseke) have been invited because we recognise your exceptionally meritorious contribution in your field.
“In recognition of your achievements the Commonwealth University proposes to award you the Honorary Doctorate Degree as part of activities combined with your participation in this potentially rewarding Top Leadership Seminars.”
In the same communication, the institution further noted that, “the Honorary Doctorate Degree Award of the Commonwealth is a unique award that is especially reserved for personalities who have distinguished themselves in society through service, selflessness and other outstanding contributions through which the lives of many have been touched positively.”
He deserves it. Surely he does. The man works like a donkey. He does not give himself time to rest.
Congratulations Dr Kaseke. It’s a trailblazing career if you imagine your days herding cattle in Mhondoro, as a young spike-haired boy, to your days in the military and then civil service. When we add the Doctorate to your five Masters Degrees in the fields of Administration, Tourism, Transport and Aviation it makes you a total package. But just a reminder do not stop pursuing the Doctorate in Business Administration with the Binary University of Malaysia.
Online Reporter