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Harare Bureau
President Robert Mugabe has appointed a six-member board to run the affairs of the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz). The appointments were made in line with the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Act. The old board was dissolved in July this year after allegations of corruption, gross abuse of financial resources and poor corporate governance matters were raised.
Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services Minister, Supa Mandiwanzira, said the decision to dissolve the board came after the government noted poor corporate governance and gross abuse of resources at Potraz.
In a statement yesterday, Minister Mandiwanzira said the new board must move quickly to arrest the intransigence in the telecommunications sector where consumers were being fleeced through expensive data products and below average services.
The Minister expected the new board to ensure accountability in the completion of the new (Potraz) headquarters, which had been under construction for several years and had shockingly overrun its budget by $7 million as it should have been completed in December 2013.
“We expect the new board to interrogate declarations by operators on their revenues to ensure the government through Potraz receives its dues. The board must also undertake to thoroughly investigate the compliance of telecommunications with the law especially where it relates to the registration of sim cards, declaration of incoming and outgoing international traffic among many other matters requiring immediate interventions,” he said.
The immediate task for the board, Minister Mandiwanzira said, was to appoint a substantive director-general and to fill the positions of several directorate positions currently filled by personnel in acting capacities.
He said that a lawyer would also be appointed to the board in due course.
“We have a mandate to serve the people not only urban, but also those in the rural areas,”
“The majority of Zimbabwe’s population live in the rural areas and it is also home to the country’s most significant economic activity, which is agriculture. People in rural areas also require and deserve telecommunications services of a high quality. In areas that do not attract commercial interest, we expect the Universal Services Fund to aggressively step up the development of the necessary telecommunications infrastructure.”
The chairman of the board is Brian Mutandiro, who will be deputised by Major General Sibangumuzi Khumalo (Rtd).
The other board members are Winston Marufu, Dorren Sibanda, Nancy Saungweme, and Fradson Shavi.
Online Reporter