By Mkhokheli Zibengwa
BARELY a month after calling a Press to point fingers at other Board members, Philip Chipfumbu has been expelled from the Zimbabwe Music Rights Association (ZIMURA) Board.
At a hustle called press conference, Chipfumbu claimed that, Board Chairperson, Albert Nyathi and some Board members had misappropriated Association funds.
Nyathi responded by denying the claims.
After being dislodged from board membership, Chipfumbu has since been totally removed as an Association member.
Chipfumbu, who joined ZIMURA in 2013, was expelled from the Association Board on the 8th May 2023 and yesterday was totally removed as a ZIMURA member, after his recent actions that were deemed contrary to the Association's procedures and culture.
Speaking to BANO NEWS, ZIMURA National Director Polisile Chimhini said Chipfumbu was expelled for putting the name of the organisation into disrepute and peddling falsehoods about Board members.
"Chipfumbu was removed from the Board through a Board motion after he went against the Organisation's procedures, teamed with non members and held a press conference where he defamed the other Board members and Management"
"ZIMURA has membership rules and regalutions and if a member breaches these, his/her membership is terminated," said Chimhini.
According to a statement released on the 23rd May 2023 by ZIMURA, Below are some of the reasons why Chipfumbu was expelled:
1. Abuse of funds during a
trip to Bulawayo on 15 March 2023. To the contrary, the trip
was a Management normal activity as part of its day to day running of the Organisation.
Management is mandated to carry out the day to day functions of ZIMURA including
executing resolutions that the Board would have made.
2. His claim that ZIMURA has no Management team is baseless and unfounded because
there is a legally appointed Management team. The Board appoints the head of
administration who in turn appoints other staff members. All employees at ZIMURA have
employment contracts hence there are no ghost workers as wrongly claimed by Mr
Chipfumbu.
3. Chipfumbu's claim and his friend's comments that the Board members are thieves is a
mere fabrication coming from an ill-informed and misguided element. No Board Member
has misappropriated any funds from the Organisation. This claim is part of a smear
campaign to tarnish the Board Members' images and the ZIMURA brand. Soon the
perpetrators will answer for Defamation and Cyber bullying charges that have been laid
against them.
4. His claim that there is no audit. ZIMURA is audited every year and no report of abuse of
funds has ever surfaced. Mr Chipfumbu voted for the adoption of the last 5 audits. The
auditors are chosen by the general members at a General Meeting.
5. The claim that the Board is captured. The Board has a cordial working relationship with
Management and his claim of the Board being captured is malicious and once again, a
fabrication that needs to be dismissed with the contempt it deserves.
6. Claim of Constitutional breach.
There has never been any breach of the ZIMURA Constitution. All Legal Requirements
have religiously been adhered to and the Companies office has updated documents listing
the current Directors of the Organization. There was never an omission to register elected
Board members.
The Directors' list that Chipfumbu and Nyakudanga are using to claim that the
Constitutional breach happened was pulled from a ZIMURA old file that had gone missing
for some time at the Companies office. They also deliberately left out the Chairperson,
Albert Nyathi in the affidavit that they are waving to try and discredit him as a bonafide
Board Member.This only goes to show their malice and irresponsible tendencies. Their
mispresentation is also proof of the confusion that they are trying to create on 22 June
2023.
Please also note that Fred Nyakudanga is not a ZIMURA member. His membership was
terminated on 27 July 2022 for riotous behavior of which he has now seemingly recruited
Chipfumbu to bring the name of the Organisation into disrepute. The Board will not fold
its arms and allow this to happen.
The Memorandum and Articles of Association provides circumstances under which an
Extra Ordinary Meeting can be convened. As such, Chipfumbu and company do not have
any legal right to convene an Extra Ordinary Meeting of the members of ZIMURA. In fact
some of the names listed on their Petition are not members and cannot be allowed to
pass decisions for the Organisation. The petition was signed by 27 known members out of
the 4000+ members. An Extra Ordinary Meeting requires a quorum of 50% of
membership.
7. Chipfumbu and his few friends think that ZIMURA is a welfare Organisation for artists.
To believe that the Association should look into their welfare simply because they once
released a song is absurd. In any case, such artists are a handful; maybe around 1% of the
ZIMURA membership.
8. ZIMURA distributes royalties based on music enjoying airplay. All distribution models
are resolved by the Board. In the last distribution a membership allowance was voted for
in terms of a precedent set by ZIMURA in its early days. The distribution was also preceded by a random survey.
We urge all progressive members of our beloved association to ignore these malcontents
who are now clutching on straws and barking in the wilderness. We assuare all
stakeholders that the Board and Management of ZIMURA are here to serve its members
who have entrusted them with a mandate to take care of the organisation's affair, most
importantly to ensure that their copyright is protected and that they receive their
royalties in good time.
©BYO ARTS NEWS ONLINE 2023
