ZIMURA announces new board

The new members who made it into the board include local musicians Good Child and Mudiwa Hood, who will serve as the directors of information and publicity, and innovation and strategy, respectively.

They join fellow musicians Albert Nyathi, Philip Chipfumbu, First Farai and Janet Manyowa as well as Witness Zhangazha, who were retained to the board. Nyathi was re-elected as the chairperson of the board, while Farai got the vice-chair post with Manyowa, a qualified accountant, retaining her treasurer post.

Zhangazha continues with his role as the association’s legal advisor, while ZIMURA’s executive director Polisile Ncube-Chimhini remains as an ex-officio member of the board, doubling up as the board secretary. Deputy Minister of ICT and Courier Services, Dingumuzi Phuti, who was appointed to the board by the ZIMURA council, will be responsible for relationship management and liaison.

“I am elated to have been elected into ZIMURA’s supreme decision making body,” Good Child told Music In Africa. “I had always been a strong advocate for young people to be part of the board and eventually we managed to get a chance to play a role for the betterment of the association which will most certainly transform into better pay-outs for all member musicians.”

The new positions, ZIMURA deputy director Henry Makombe said, were created to increase the effectiveness of the board as the association seeks to transform itself.

“The election of the new board members was exciting to the whole membership of ZIMURA because it’s [board] now relatively new in terms of new blood, new blood that is a good fair representation against the old that has wisdom and experience,” he said, adding that the new members were already “showing fire and energy since the day they were elected and they are willing to take the organisation further in terms of its effectiveness, and new ideas. I think ZIMURA would have improved its visibility in the next five years because the board members and each new board member has got a task.”

Founded in 1982, ZIMURA is a music composers and publishers association that seeks to protect the rights of musicians and publishers under the Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act Chapter 26. The collective management organisation is affiliated with the Confederation of International Societies of Authors and Composers based in Paris, France and also registered with the Zimbabwe Intellectual Property Office under the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs.