Zim telecoms expert vies for ITU top post

PHILLIMON MHLANGA

Zimbabwe’s telecommunications expert, Cosmas Zavazava, has to shrug three other candidates for the post of director for the telecommunication development bureau (BDT) post at the Geneva–based International Telecommunications Union (ITU) at Thursday’s elections.

Zavazava is currently at the Plenipotentiary Conference in Dubai, where a new ITU leadership team will be elected to run the union for the next four years.

Three other candidates namely Doreen Bogdan-Martin of United States of America, William Ijeh of Nigeria and Jean Philemon Kissangou from Congo are vying for the same post.

The winning candidate will take up the new duties from January 1, 2019, unless otherwise decided by the conference.

Speaking at the Plenipotentiary Conference in Dubai Wednesday, Information Communication Technology and Courier Services Minister Kazembe Kazembe said Zavazava was the ideal candidate for the BDT post.

“It is my great pleasure to present to you (Dr Cosmas) Zavazava, who is well known to most of you, as our candidate for the post of Director Telecommunications Development Bureua,” Kazembe said.

“(Cosmas) Zavazava is a diligent, versatile, and humble man. He speaks several languages and has vast diplomatic experience within and outside the ITU, with almost 20 years of experience in the Development Sector. Some of you have worked with him in disaster situations and I am sure you can testify that he is undoubtedly a strategic asset to the ITU who deserves your support. We are offering (Dr. Cosmas) Zavazava to the ITU as a token of appreciation for the support that we have enjoyed and also our commitment to the work of the Union. We are counting on you to support our offering to the Union.”

Apart from the BDT post, four other top post are being contested, namely the secretary general, deputy secretary general and the directors of the Bureaux of the two sectors, the Radiocommunication Bureau and the telecommunication standardization Bureau. The ITU Council, which comprises 48 member States, serves as the governing body of ITU in between four-yearly Plenipotentiary conferences and meets every year in Geneva, even in years where Plenipotentiary conference will be held.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Back to top button