ZNBC DG APPOINTMENT: INSIDE STORY
Cousin. This is what I gathered from someone close to the issues.
1. There was a penal of five that interviewed six candidates. It is understood out of the five panelists, three were non-board members invited to help with the selection process.
2. Out of the six candidates, three were selected for further board consideration.
3. The Board selected former broadcaster Maureen Nkandu. It later submitted the list of the top three to the Minister of Information and Media for information, with the top candidate Maureen Nkandu.
4. The Minister realised the Board has based its selection purely on scored points without consideration for comments made by members of the panel. The second candidate, Berry Lwando was beaten by about a margin of two points by Maureen but appeared to have had far better favourable comments than the selected top candidate. Comments focused on Berry Lwando’s broadcasting acumen, technical capabilities, media experience, precious experience of managing ZNBC at Director level, exposure to Multichoice where he served as CEO for the Multichoice Talent Factory and his emotional intelligence. As far as the Minister was concerned, two points separating the two candidates was too narrow to influence the final choice. She wanted the Board to be thorough in its approach so that there was integrity and credulity in the process.
5. In others words, The Minister wanted to engage the Board to scrutinize the choice by considering other factors other than just scores for the candidates because a single panel member could easily affect scores. It was in the process of seeking to consult the Board she heard the contract of offer had already been given to Maureen but seems only her signature was on it.
6. The Board was duly informed about the Minister’s concerns and sought clarity on legal implications of the offered contract. n the process of consulting the Attorney General on the contract issue, ZNBC Board was informed the actual recruitment process had omitted one crucial element. It may have had to do with security clearance procedures. This affected other management positions where recruitment had also taken place.
7. In short, the whole matter of ZNBC had nothing to do with political interference. It was a procedural matter that should have been managed properly. This thing happens very often expect some candidates went to social media to celebrate before the process was completed. It is only completed when the contract of all signatures is in your hands and that’s when you resign your job if you have any.