Uproar over Zimparks board appointment of ‘conflicted’ Mary Mliswa-Chikoka

Hurungwe – Councilor’s and other stakeholders have raised a red flag over the appointment of a Rural District Council (RDC) chairperson to the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) board.

The newly-appointed board members include Retired General Sibangumuzi Khumalo, Lesley Ncube, Mary Mliswa-Chikoka although in the notice by Zimparks she is cited as Mary Moses as if to conceal her real identity and another member is Cecilia Dubiwa.

Mary Mliswa-Chikoka’s appointment came to light after she shared the appointment on the party’s social media platforms and a newspaper article on her appointment.

Recently Minister of Environment, Climate and Wildlife, Dr Sithembiso Nyoni, announced the addition of four new board members to the Zimparks board that include Mliswa-Chikoka, a Hurungwe Rural District Councilor and the local authority’s Chairperson, though their designations in the board were not mentioned. The board is chaired by Agrippa Sora.

Councilor’s and other wildlife stakeholders in Hurungwe said the appointment of Mliswa-Chikoka who also doubles as Mashonaland West Province ZANU PF Provincial chairperson does not meet the dictates of corporate governance.

Wildlife representatives in Hurungwe said Mliswa-Chikoka’s role will be conflicted as she chairs the local authority where various conservancy’s are operating in and in the past she had been accused of corrupt dealings in some of the conservancy’s using her position as local authority chairperson.

“I don’t know if the Minister did background checks on the people appointed to the Zimparks board as some of them are conflicted.

Related Articles

Zimbabwe caught between deadly elephant conflicts and…

Apr 12, 2024 21,180

I will be reunited with my cobra snakes – Gokwe n’anga tells…

Apr 2, 2024 47,962

Two poachers shot dead as ZimParks implement shoot to kill…

May 30, 2022 18,567

Police recover 31 tusks as villagers arrested searching for…

May 6, 2022 36,182 Prev Next 1 of 25

“We have been having issues with Mliswa-Chikoka who abused her position as council chairperson to direct us to do things which she would be corruptly benefiting and how is she going to be balance the interests of the local authority which she chairs and the interests of the board she is now a member.

“We are going to raise the issue with the minister as this appointment defeats the whole purpose of corporate governance as Mliswa-Chikoka will be both a ref and official,” an official with a wildlife conservancy in Hurungwe district who requested for anonymity said.

A councilor in the Hurungwe Rural District Council echoed the same sentiments and said the appointment of a sitting council chairperson who has direct interests in wildlife enterprises to the Zimparks board is misplaced.

“We are not happy as councillors how would the same person handle the issues of wildlife and game parks affecting our local authority when we would be supposed to approach a board which she is also a member of how would our interests be protected?” the female councillor said.

Hurungwe district is endowed with rich wildlife and is home to some of the country’s best wildlife conservancies.

“This can only mean more woes for us as operators in the sector as Mary (Mliswa-Chikoka) has been abusing her position as a councilor and local authority chairperson as she has been coming to parks allegedly demanding kickbacks and threatening us and now she is a board member of the place which we are supposed to seek protection against her, this country is sick ” another wildlife organization operator told Nehanda Radio.

Efforts to get a response from the Ministry of Environment, Climate and Wildlife was fruitless by the time of publication.

Some councillors from Hurungwe Rural District Council said they will engage the Ministry of Local Authority to ensure that Mliswa-Chikoka vacate her position as council chairperson if she still wants to be a board member in the Zimparks board.

ZimParks is in charge of 13 percent of the land space in Zimbabwe and 28 percent overall of land under conservation.