PHILLIMON MHLANGA IN SUN CITY, SOUTH AFRICA
EY partner Fungai Kuipa has been elected the new president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe (ICAZ) following the institute’s annual general meeting at its Winter School in Sun City, South Africa.
He was unveiled Saturday night at a colourful gala dinner.
Kuipa, who was previously senior vice president, replaced Deloitte partner Tapiwa Chizana who stepped down after the expiry of his term yesterday.
Duduzile Shinya, a chief financial officer at Amalgamated Brands, is the senior vice president. Shinya was previously finance executive at Schweppes Zimbabwe.
Deloitte’s assurance director Tumai Mafunga was elected junior vice president.
“It is my honour and great pleasure to take up the mantle as the new president of this just-over-a-century old institution,” Kuipa said in his acceptance speech.
“We have almost become comfortable with living in uncertain conditions, one might even say volcanic and a number of wild beasts roam freely in our country; beasts like corruption, low foreign direct investment, currency shortages, fuel and incessant power cuts, key accounting and auditing issues.”
He called on members to reclaim their relevance in society.
“There is a school of thought that, as an Institute, we came to the functional currency party a bit too late, more like the invited guests instead of the hosts.
“You see my fellow colleagues, what good does it do us to claim to be the pre-eminent profession body, but fail to deliver. What good does it do us if we are labelled as cowards in some circles and fail to rise to the occasion when required. If there is one thing we understand in this profession, it is deliverables.”
