Eight senior managers at KFHL are planning to leave after former CEO Onias Makamba parted ways with the institution. Makamba received a golden handshake of US$200 000 from the banking group, businessdigest has established.
The eight are MD for banking Mark Wood, MD for Micro Finance Virginia Sibanda, MD stock broking Itai Munyeza, director public affairs and communications Farai Mpofu, company secretary Farai Mafunga, head of international banking George Mushawatu, head of information technology Kembo Kampira. Kampira is said to have left before Makamba.
A board member who spoke to businessdigest yesterday played down the resignation saying, “The only person that needed urgent replacement was the company secretary as his position would be filled from outside. The others can be replaced from within but it is not urgent as their deputies or senior subordinates can easily fit in their shoes”.
The board member said Lynn Mukonoweshuro who has been the company’s chief operating officer is the current acting CEO.
“It could be an opportunity for the company to re-organise its structure which had so many executives,” the board member said.
Businessdigest understand that the outgoing executive will be paid two months salary for every year that they have worked at the bank and other perks.
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This means if an executive earned US$ 2 000 by the time he left the organisation after serving the organisation since its formation in 1997, he would be paid US$ 48 000.
Sources said Chanakira does not qualify to be CEO of the company because Reserve Bank regulations do not allow a major shareholder who can influence outcomes of an organisation’s decisions to be at the helm. Chanakira has a 49% stake in KHFL.
“He (Chanakira) has two options if he wants to be CEO, either he dilutes his shareholding or he runs the company from outside the country,” an insider said.
Sources said most of the senior managers allege the company was not being run professionally and had lost the sparkle that made it one of the fastest expanding financial institutions in Zimbabwe since 1997.
Makamba was eased out of the bank last month amid suspicion the executive could have been siding with a camp controlled by then majority shareholder in the banking group, John Moxon, at the height of a shareholder dispute in the merged Kingdom Meikles Ltd.
He was sent on forced leave in July after his relationship with Chanakira deteriorated and had split the company’s leadership.
According to sources, Makamba’s problems with Chanakira emerged after KMAL announced it would convene an extraordinary general meeting after another shareholder Econet Wireless requested a meeting.
Chanakira is said to have accused Makamba of concealing “material information” from him about the de-merger and had to recall him from the negotiating process.
Paul Nyakazeya
