INFORMATION minister Monica Mutsvangwa has threatened to fire members of the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) and accused the staff at the State Procurement Board (SPB) of ‘sleeping on duty’, plunging her ministry in financial losses.
Addressing the ministry’s strategic planning meeting in Nyanga on Monday, Mutsvangwa said BAZ and SPB must perform or suffer the consequences.
This comes at a time when the SPB has been accused of nepotism and awarding tenders to unscrupulous businesspeople and companies.
“Procurement - your department is intended to ensure that the ministry runs smoothly with all the required parts in place. I am however greatly disappointed that this department has gained a reputation for procuring sub-standard materials, stalling programs and failure to perform competent due diligence on suppliers,” Mutsvangwa said.
“A case in point is that of Solution Motors where the ministry lost out on seven cars because people were sleeping on duty. This coming year, it will not be business as usual.”
Mutsvangwa also accused BAZ of failing to efficiently execute its mandate.
“Well done for helping to put community and campus radio stations on air, you are on course to meet your target in this regard. There remain some areas of improvement, as the lead agency on the digitization project. I expect you to add more impetus to the construction of transmitters. While it’s understandable that there might be some funding challenges, you don’t seem to do enough with whatever money you get from the fiscus. You need to introspect and improve.”
Mutsvangwa said the department had been given money to purchase and distribute set top boxes but the programme was still lagging behind.
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Set top boxes will be used during migration from analogue to digitisation.
“Going forward we expect more enhanced momentum so that the nation can start enjoying the investment in the Digital Broadcasting Migration (DDT) project.”
