Professionals acting unprofessionally when Professionals mislead Politicians
After reading the latest instalment by Mr Mutumwa Mawere, where he argued convincingly that the tolerance limit in the developing world is so low to make it easy ,comfortable and rewarding for bad and unethical accountants to prosper. I began to reflect on my own circumstances and experiences and could find no better explanation to the reprehensible conduct of a chartered Accountant Reggie Saruchera of Camelsa (ENG Liquidator) who is a registered member of ICAZ and in good standing than the fact that there is no effective self regulation in professional bodies whose members would rather point fingers at politicians and political parties rather than their own role in under mining black capital formation ,the rule of law and democracy.
Although I have abundant evidence confirming the misconduct and unethical behaviour by Saruchera ,I took the decision not to lodge complaint against Saruchera as required by law because I could find no evidence since Independence where ICAZ has acted against one of their own in the public interest. It became clear to me of the hidden hand of certain professionals in aiding and abetting destruction of black entrepreneurs and reverse black capital formation but rush to blame politicians or political parties without people like Saruchera taking responsibility of their negligence and unethical behaviour.
Such low confidence in professional bodies has a lot to explain about why Zimbabwe is where it is. In addition to blame statecrafters as suggested and proposed by Hon Minister Biti in his debate with Nathaniel Manheru with Mutumwa Mawere reviewing respective points I also suggest we critically examine the role of professionals in the decay that has visited Zimbabwe. The problem is beyond politicians or a political party.
I came to this conclusion because of my own real life experience at the hands of Reggie Saruchera whom I had mistakenly believed to be a professional guided by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe (ICAZ).So just because someone is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe (ICAZ) we can not simply assume they will act professional.
I think we are closer to being victims of witch craft than statecraft because the state has been hijacked by opportunistic ,ambitious ,dangerous and greedy individuals who remotely feed politicians with poisonous advice and ideas .Some of them are Ministers who remain silent choosing to blame Mugabe or the misdeeds of their own kind. We must take a close look at professionals and their bodies if they can support the Indigenization and the broad based empowerment revolution which Zimbabwe has embarked on.
In the ENG saga Saruchera’s conduct is so reprehensible to demand an outrage. And the relevant body such the ICAZ must take corrective action .The tolerance of limits of some our professional bodies leaves a lot to be desired ,its so easy, comfortable and rewarding to be a bad accountant and get away with it as demonstrated by Saruchera and Camelsa whilst seeking to blame political actors .
After bail was denied was forced to volunteer liquidation. I knew I was in serious trouble but wasn’t actually sure the nature of the crime. The liquidation was involuntary as it was induced because of my imprisonment. The Courts demanded a payment plan which we only produced by securing creditors by applying for liquidation.
I have been in state of disbelief of the conduct of a chartered of a chartered accountant registered with ICAZ. It still bleeds my heart. Whenever my daughter asks me about possibility of being a chartered Accountant I quickly discourage her.
We need accountants who believe in proper broad based economic empowerment. If Saruchera acted in accordance with the law and within his professional guidelines and ethically then ENG case would have been properly concluded without any future ownership disputes such as the one involving me and Interfin Bank Holdings over Century/CFX Bank.
In terms of the Prevention of Corruption Act, the assets of specified persons must be protected and preserved and yet in terms of the Companies Act, the liquidator is empowered to dispose of the same assets.
On the one hand, I could not challenge the actions of Saruchera without seeking Saruchera’s permission. And Saruchera as a chartered Accountant and member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe ought to have known that you cant be both Liquidator and Investigator. This is clearly unethical,unacceptable and outrageous. Its even worse that the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe continue to have Saruchera and Camelsa as members in good standing.
After Saruchera started showing unacceptable conduct and after several letters seeking redress I and my co-contributory Nyasha Watyoka resolved to seek Saruchera’s removal from office as liquidator.I filed high court case HC- 6244-04.This case is still pending before the high court in Harare. Instead of responding to the my high court HC 6244-04 application seeking his removal Saruchera sought political intervention by applying for my specification just because I had challenged his illegal attempt to dispose shares which he didn’t have express authority to dispose.
As a professional Saruchera should have known that when facing a court action you respond legally not politically. His application to the Minister was solely for the aim to tie my hands so he could sell ENG Assets without any input from me or my co-director even though it was our company he was dealing in.
The fact must be made that once Saruchera applied for himself to be appointed as Investigator it is a puzzling mystery why he then continued to also act as liquidator. Can we blame a Minister ,a politician or a Political party for actions like these which were done by a professional? Can someone become both judge and prosecutor?
In the application to remove Saruchera, it is obvious that as liquidator he should have had no interest in remaining as liquidator especially if persons with interests in the estate feel injured.
However, fully cognisant that his services were not welcome in the administration of ENG, Saruchera accepted the mandate to be investigator pursuant to the operation of the Prevention of Corruption Act and more importantly, he continued to act as liquidator.
Saruchera is a qualified accountant and a member in good standing of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe (ICAZ). The Institute is a creature of statute and is the sole organisation to award the Chartered Accountant designation in Zimbabwe. It is regulated in terms of the Chartered Accountants Act Chapter 27:02 as a professional body. Should we blame politicians for the failure of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe (ICAZ) to rein in one of their own when they go on a rampage disregarding ethical standards?
The conduct of Saruchera and Camelsa in the ENG matter must, therefore, be a matter of public interest and is it not strange that we have not seen any outrage being expressed by the ICAZ about the manner in which the ENG matter has been handled by one of their own?
The reasons for lack of an uproar maybe because most people did not know that Saruchera was both Liquidator and Investigator.
What should Saruchera have done in this matter? Should he have applied for and accepted the dual mandate of Investigator and Liquidator as he did?
As a liquidator, he had a fiduciary responsibility to the creditors , contributories and shareholders, including my co-director and share holder Nyasha Watyoka and myself, and yet in terms of the Prevention of Corruption Act, he did not owe any responsibility to us rather he reported directly to the Minister of Justice to whom I suppose he did not explain that he could not be investigator and liquidator at the same time. After such clear facts it becomes clear that sometimes we blame politicians and political parties when the blame should squarely be on professionals like Saruchera and Camelsa who mislead these political leaders.
Gilbert Muponda is an Investment banker he can be reached at gilbert@engcapital.ca
www.engcapital.ca
http://www.facebook.com/muponda
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