The integrity of the Institute of Directors Zimbabwe (IoDZ) is under test in the wake of the findings of a forensic audit report on scandals that rocked the governance body in December 2021, ENN reports.
It is on public record that on 18 December 2021, after a spate of leakages of confidential information, including a tip-off anonymous email to all IoDZ members with devious allegations against the Institute and its executive, the Institute informed its members and the public that their audit committee had instituted a forensic audit, whose findings it would avail to the public in line with its corporate governance values of transparency and disclosure.
After seven months of waiting, the ENN Zimbabwe correspondent Lucia Sinyoro reached out to the IODZ Executive Director Cathrine Nyachionjeka for an update on the forensic audit report ahead of the Institute’s AGM slated for Tuesday, July 26, 2022. Nyachionjeka requested for the questions to be sent to her email for a prompt response.
“Early in the year, you promised to share your forensic audit findings with the public. Could you share with us your forensic audit report findings, if they are available, ahead of your AGM next Tuesday?”, read the question.
Follow-up questions were sent to the IoDZ executive director via email. No responses had been received from Nyachionjeka at the time of writing this article.
ZRP is in Possession of the IoDZ Forensic Audit Report
ENN is reliably informed that the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) is in possession of a copy of the forensic audit report on IoDZ, whose contents, it is alleged, speak to issues of cyber-crime, breach of confidentiality contracts, collusion, internal control deficiencies, defamation, and abuse of corporate assets.
Efforts by ENN to obtain a copy of the forensic audit report were unsuccessful.
It is information in the public domain that in early December 2021, a salary payslip for one of the Institute’s employees, as well as other confidential management conversations were broadcast to the public via LinkedIn. On the 16th of December 2021, all IoDZ members were greeted by an alleged TipOffs Anonymous email headlined, “Scandal Rocks Corporate Governance Institute”, whose allegations were incriminating, if not defamatory. The email contents ended up circulating on public platforms. A response email from another pseudo email address was sent to all IoDZ members on the 24th of December 2021, berating the allegations of the tip-offs anonymous, whose allegations obligated the highly regarded governance body (IoDZ) to institute a forensic audit. The issues spilled to social media, and in the process damaged the reputation of IoDZ and its leadership.
It remains to be seen if the governance body would walk the talk on this forensic audit test by disclosing audit findings to its members and the public, and decisively acting on them ahead of their AGM. Every year, IoDZ Council members representative of a wide cross-section of the business and professional community holds an Annual General Meeting. With findings of the forensic audit report standing in the way of the AGM, the governance body and its council have a time-bound governance test with potential criminal implications on its plate.
“Tick Tock goes the clock”, Jo Brandenburg’s House with a clock on its wall soundtrack is playing towards its end.
An affiliate of the Institute of Directors United Kingdom (IoD UK), the Institute of Directors Zimbabwe was founded in 1958 with a mission to promote excellence, enterprise, integrity, and ethical behaviour in entrepreneurs, shareholders, directors, and managers, and to raise standards of corporate governance best practices in Zimbabwe.
