HARARE – The Zimbabwe Newspapers Group, the country’s biggest media organisation, has sent its CEO, finance director and marketing executive on leave pending an audit, ZimLive has learnt.
Despite consistently declaring profits, Zimpapers – owners of The Herald, The Sunday Mail, The Chronicle, Star FM and Typocrafters – has been struggling to stay afloat and salaries seldom arrive on time.
The company’s pension fund collapsed, forcing management to sell properties to compensate workers.
The biggest headwind, however, was a crash in newspaper circulation, currency losses and declining revenues from advertising.
The Zimpapers board, under pressure from the information ministry, took the decision to send CEO Pikirayi Deketeke, finance director Farai Matanhire and marketing boss Tapuwa Mandimutsira on leave pending their exit from the company.
The company will allow the executives to run down their contracts during the forced leave. Deketeke’s contract is due to terminate in April, Matanhire’s in June and Mandimutsira’s in August.
A Zimpapers insider said: “The company was headed for a huge iceberg, the thing was going to crash anytime and the board had to bite the bullet.
“Zimpapers will not fire the trio because that would cost the company a lot of money in compensating them, so their contracts will run their course but they will be home in the meantime.”
Veteran journalist William Chikoto, who was senior editorial executive, has been appointed acting CEO with a mandate to implement a new digital thrust as the company seeks a major shift in direction.
The board has reportedly ordered an audit amid persistent claims of financial impropriety at the company, particularly in the marketing division which Mandimutsira headed.
Deketeke, a former editor of The Herald, rose through the ranks to become editor in chief, chief operations officer and eventually took over as CEO in 2014.
He will be credited for unbundling Zimpapers into several standalone business units covering printing, radio, television and newspapers.
