via ZBC licence boycott is justified – NewsDay Zimbabwe December 12, 2013
Calls for a boycott of radio and television licence payments as a protest against open plunder of public funds at the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) through payment of huge salaries to individuals are more than justified.
While we acknowledge and to some extent commend Zimbabweans for their sobriety and patience, often regarded as bordering on docility, we find it within reasonable cause for Zimbabweans to, for once, express their displeasure in this manner.
The reasons for this kind of feeling among those agitating for a licence payment boycott cannot be entirely unjustifiable. They are refusing to finance a culture of greed, insensitivity and impunity – to fund a system that encourages looting.
The Combined Harare Residents’ Association — representatives of the people that are being forced to pay money for very poor or non-existent services or for a product that they are being asked to consume against their will and which commodity they may, after all, not consume at all because it is not palatable — issued a statement yesterday saying its constituency has “always complained of poor quality programming and partisan reporting being done by the national broadcaster”.
“ . . . Logically speaking, we connect the recent operations by ZBC which forces motorists and domestic television and radio owners to buy radio and TV licences so that individuals like (suspended ZBC CEO Happison) Muchechetere can gallivant around the world with their families whilst the rest of Zimbabweans enjoy old Chinese movies and repeated programmes week in and week out.”
Revelations that Muchechetere is taking away an astronomical monthly bounty of more than $35 000 — money that is being forced out of people that may not be listening or viewing any of the national broadcaster’s products — have shocked the nation.
That is the reason why there is this agitation for the boycott which action we find reasonable until at least the looting and the administrative mess at ZBC has been sorted out and until the broadcaster offers consumers value for their money.
Like other parastatals that have continued to milk the taxpayer for virtually nothing, ZBC has for years been rightly accused of the same incompetence and massive plunder by a few top managers that have presided over empty grain silos at the Grain Marketing Board, decaying rail wagons (National Railways of Zimbabwe), grounded airplanes and skyrocketing debt (Air Zimbabwe), graft-ridden Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation, and dilapidated CMED.
The Harare residents said in their statement yesterday that Muchechetere must be made a public example and be “arrested for looting”.
They must, however, not stop with Muchechetere. Everybody that authorised that plunder or that was aware and/or approved the salary and allowances must be called to account.
COMMENTS
why should muchechetere get arrested for being paid a lot of money.he didnt have the power to peg hid own salary.ask the board members and webster shamu.
Why bother about the old fashioned ZBC when you can connect to the worthwhile DSTV where the choice is wide. KUMIRIRA KUIMBIRWA HONDO YAKAPERA KARE NE ZBC.TIBVIREI APA.
why should muchechetere get arrested for being paid a lot of money.he didnt have the power to peg his own salary.ask the board members and webster shamu.
SURELY ARE THESE OUTRAGEOUS SALARY LEVELS ONLY AT ZBC. THAT IS THE NORM AT ALL PARASTATALS AND ONE WONDERS WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS ANIMAL CALLED ZANU PF. FOR HOW LONG ARE WE GOING TO ALLOW ZANU PF TO CONTINUE LIKE THIS PLUNDERING THE ECONOMY LIKE THIS. MUGABE UNODA KUTI ZIMBABWE IFE NEWE HERE. HATISATI TAMBOONA NYIKA INOTONGWA NEMAPENZI AKADAI
George Shava you should not be surprised by people who claimed 120% mental disability in the 90s.Can you imagine how completely nutty they are by now.
George, you are right. But they do not only earn outrageous salaries and perks. They have now ring fenced all procurement. Stationery, spares, Tenders etc are now only open to briefcase companies owned by the Executives. Here, the Permanent Secretaries and Ministers are invloved, so are Principal Directors in the ministries. That is why they spend much time in conferences but never implement.
They register briefcase middlemen companies in neighbouring countries and award those tenders to supply imported goods to the parastatals they run. When the money is paid, cosmetic implementation takes place and a media hype is created. Soon, it dies down with the project, but the money is gone! That is the new Zimbabwe for you.
Then they invent high sounding words “SOUND BITES” like “We have a serious LIQUIDITY CRUNCH.”
@DRY WINE, You summed it all and that’s true of the situation prevailing and will remain with us for ages.
George, you ask ‘for how long?’………..the answer is forever because you are a gutless,spineless people, complicit in the total devastation of a once beautiful country and incapable of producing selfless leaders because it is in the very nature of the indigenous african to reap what he hasn’t sown, to consume what he hasn’t produced and to state ‘I am not the one’ when he so clearly was the one!!
Whenever you feel you’re getting close to freedom just look at zambia, 20 years and a number of leaders since kaunda was ousted and still a poverty stricken dictatorship or malawi or congo……….need I go on?
ko muchechetere aita sei hake iye aingovawo zvake mushandi . ndiani angaramba kupiwa that monthly salary . arrest the zbc board including the former minister shamu for approaving such a salary
Even Obama would rather resign from the presidency and take up a job at ZBC, what a shame!!!!!!!!!! Salaries for ALL heads of public enterprises MUST be made public with immediate effect including Gono’s recent packs. For once, Jonathan Moyo must be applauded for being indoda sibili.
Why not make Jonathan an anti corruption minister? This country will prosper overnight I tell you!
You dont know Jona, he has an agenda of his own.
Are you sure? Ha ha ha ha ha ndaseka hangu. Do you really know his ulterior motive???
A broadcaster does not derive its surplus from licences sold but from quality advertisers. Now Mugabe’s N. Korean style grab on ZBC does not make for quality advertiser. This means for ages the public broadcaster has been flighting Zanu pf jingles at no charge. The public purse has sustained this rot for years.
Sure is business unusual in Zimbabwe. Banks make profits through charging clients than loans, newspapers believe in selling as many copies as possible in order to register profits than attracting quality advertisers.
Dont pay license fees,full stop.
No one will arrest anyone. Vese imbavha. Dai iye Muchechetere angavari in the mnangagwa camp, he would not be in this mess.
Do not pay licence fees.
Yes! You are all right. Don’t pay licences full stop. All public servants salaries and perks must be made public!!! If my memory serves me correctly there was a test case on this TV licence thing a few years back and the guy won the case. maybe we should consider a class action suit. And this must be only the beginning! It is time ALL elected and “rigged elected” public servants be held accountable. When I worked for tax department in the 70’s you didn’t dare take even a pen. There was accountability for everything. All government and council need to become accountable!
Me – it has been now 8 years since i boycotted paying any cent to ZBC. Quietly i did my passive resistance – i am not supporting such luxurious living. It can be done – fear of arrest is what makes many pay. ZESA, Councils, ZIMRA, Toll gates, road levy, E10, E15 all schemes to make you poorer whilst the connected pay non of it! Insult to injury i pay for these services twice – one for self and second time through taxes abused by chefs!
NO TO ZBC
Ya neh, nxa kuthiwa amashona ngamasela baqinisile…
UnguMdidi sibili-you seem to be advocating for chaos. i know you are Mugabe’s best friend who thrives on choatic situations,advocating for divisions along tribal, racial/ethnic lines. That is why Mugabe is still in power because of shallow minded people like you.I know Zanu pf is a tribal party with people like you being second class Zanu pf party members.Zanu pf extensions(in disguise) such as MDC, Zapu, and Mavambo are there also to ensure Zanu pf rules this country for ever.Also with IMDIDI(from both Shonas and Ndebeles) like you the people of Zimbabwe can never be one.
IZanu asiyo amashona kuphela. Bonke ngamasela.
If you look at all the state enterprises mentioned above they are headed by former soldiers and war veterans so Muchechetere is not to blame.The commander in chief of the armed forces Robert Mugabe is the one to blame for all this mess.Mugabe always feels that his stay at the helm he owes it to the soldiers and police hence he always thank them by giving them influential posts in the state enterprises no matter how unqualified they are.May I request from anyone who is knowledgeable to share with us a list of former soldiers,war vets and police officers who are in influential posts in parastatals.
This culture of corruption is here to stay….you will see …..it will be swept under the carpet as the others don’t want to have their incomes looked into !!!
A senior position in a parastatal is the ultimate retirement job…no responsibility..no accountability….and no service delivery ….to the people of the country …who pay the wages !
we live in an area that has no coverage from ZBC and yet we have to pay our Licences. WHy?
today in fact the inspectors came and checked our licences $& of them for the Hotel @ $100.00 each.
No Licence $100.00 fine plus payment for licence backdated to begining of the year. Disgusting Theft of hard earned cash.
Indeed we are in a crisis. They steal elections, diamonds, rhinos, farms, firms, banks….loot from parastatals. What happened at NRZ, GMB, NSSA, PSMAS, and recently at ZBC. The culture of corruption has indeed became a cancer in Zimbabwe. Its spreading because it is perpetrated by the “big fish” who are above the law. But who is going to set us free?
Give the country to Gayigusu he can run it better than ZANU PF whats the difference , aha mani nxaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, Mdidi lawe vuka kanti ulaleni , this government involves oyihlomkhululu oMoyo Khaya kuyafana nje , oJohn Landa Nkomo baze bafana they did nothing , all ZANU PF members are like animals in the Animal farm all saying yes to Napolean even if its wrong . But their Napoleon soon he will be history , we will see.
@Mdidi , vuka wena ulaleleni , ZANU PF is not for Shonas ,stupid Ndebeles have turned to be statures there , they have failed to represent our Joshoua Nkomo as he signed the peace accord of 1987 between ZAPU and ZANU .
Charlie Cochrane is back and he is off his Meds again.
If ZBC are serious they should go for prepaid listners licences like ZESA. They are robbing us in broad daylight.
I havent paid my licences for the last five years. I sensed that it would be looted. Such illgoten wealth must be recovered if ZPF is serious about rooting out corruption.
When Kasu was fired from zbc board on a tuesday the following saturday he was elected manicaland deputy zpf provincial chairperson.These thieves take care of each other.Dont pay the licences ndapota
Problem is when u are driving, ZRP is also out on the roads charging $10 fine for driving without a radio licence. You end up paying far much more than the licence itself. The country is being run by thugs.