Online Reporter
Kudakwashe Mugari
Deputy National Editor
THE Institute of People Management of Zimbabwe (IPMZ) is facing growing criticism from its members over lack of transparency, financial mismanagement and poor organisation of its flagship events, with the latest annual convention in Cape Town, South Africa reportedly ending in embarrassment for guests.
Members who attended the 2026 convention in South Africa have described scenes of confusion on the opening day, logistical challenges and serious lapses in event management despite what they said was a reasonable line-up of speakers.
More serious allegations circulating among delegates are that disruption at the conference venue linked to payment arrangements resulted in delegates and some esteemed speakers being temporarily locked out and chased out of the auditorium.
The Cape Town convention had been billed as a key platform to discuss skills, productivity, artificial intelligence and the future of work at a time Zimbabwe is conducting a national skills audit.
Instead, members say it failed to generate meaningful national debate or policy positions.
“For an institute that is supposed to lecture organisations about leadership, planning and accountability, you expect better execution at its own flagship event,” said one senior HR practitioner who attended.
Another member highlighted areas of concern
‘’There are issues which I believe should be addressed, like: Why do we have a past president in the Executive? The membership is not eligible to elect the President; it’s a preserve of the committee. The constitution is being used as a tool for manipulation and not good and inclusive governance. I personally have lost interest and confidence in the organisation. It looks like it’s more of a pathway to other opportunities for senior members rather than a community of practice.’’ he said
Members say Cape Town cannot be viewed in isolation. The previous annual convention held in Victoria Falls also attracted complaints from delegates over travel, logistics and accommodation arrangements.
Members say a perceived pattern has now moved the debate beyond event management into governance.
“Any conference can have operational problems. The issue is whether a pattern emerges across successive flagship events. When similar concerns are raised year after year, it becomes a governance and leadership question,” said another member.
Some members allege a lack of transparency in tendering for venues, travel and accommodation, and have called for an independent audit of the finances for the 2025 Victoria Falls and 2026 Cape Town conventions.
Delegates at the Cape Town convention, where the national skills audit and Zimbabwe’s preparedness for AI-driven work were expected to be major topics, reportedly had to endure delays and organisational confusion at the start of the programme.
Government has made skills development and workforce competitiveness central to Vision 2030, and IPMZ was expected to use the convention to present research, a national workforce outlook and frameworks for reskilling. Members say no such authoritative papers were presented.
“The objective is not to destroy IPMZ. Zimbabwe’s people-management profession would be poorer without a strong professional institute. The objective is to ask whether the institution bearing that responsibility is currently living up to it,” said one long-standing member.
IPMZ President Audrey Mhlambo refuted the allegations, saying her organisation have sound corporate governance.
“We would like to advise that we do have sound corporate governance structures which are aimed at providing controls.
“Firstly, our financials are audited annually, and we present the insights at our annual AGM
wherein we even invite colleagues to further interrogate. All our financial responsibilities are
overseen by a Finance Committee,” she said.
” You will appreciate that while we can respond to some of
the matters directly, our members are welcome and have the right through our structures to get
more detailed insights by engaging our Secretariat directly, and we always call on them to do so.
“We trust that should these questions be coming from a genuine member, then they may be
alive to the operations and governance structures”.
Dr Tendai Munhenga, deputy president IPMZ and Finance Committee Chairperson, said they encountered some challenges, but the event went on well.
“There was no financial mishap regarding the Cape Town convention; however, there was a minor operational issue which delayed the start of the programme, which happened way before Minister Muswere, who was the guest of honour, arrived. None of our members was chased out of the venue. Apart from this delay, the convention went smoothly throughout the duration,” he said.
