The Chartered Management Accountancy profession is one of the strongest business qualifications in the world. In Zimbabwe less than 10 individuals pass the final stage each year and in South Africa its less than 40 every year. With head quarters in the United Kingdom, the Institute of Chartered Management Accountants produces some of the best business leaders and this is why it is in high demand worldwide. The unique blend of management accounting, financial accounting and business-focused subjects produces competent and confident CGMAs who can lead their organisations to sustainable success.

The Story of Nyasha

A few years ago this writer was referred to a young lady called Nyasha who lived in Prospect Harare, an academic genius, at the age of 18, Nyasha was the best A level student in Botswana. At the age of 21 Nyasha had passed the final exams of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). She had not only completed the CIMA final exams but was the third best student in the world! This was not her first world record as she had also won several CIMA national and world record prizes for individual subjects. To date she is one of the brightest young Zimbabweans who have flown the national academic flag high in the field of Management Accounting. Her academic record is something that the nation should be proud of!

Nyasha fails to find a job

The young lady was soon to find out that excelling on the academic field can be a curse especially in the current environment. Most managers with average academic achievements fear young , innovative students with impeccable credentials. Nyasha was to respond to numerous job vacancies applying for various jobs in the Private sector, NGO sector and Government and was never responded to, she was never shortlisted. Even companies looking for trainee graduates did not want her near an interview room.

Why was she failing to get a job?

I had a good discussion with the then CIMA Country Office Manager, Mr Moses Sikwila asking why such rare talent is jobless? The answer from him was that she was putting the ‘world prizes’ on her curriculum vitae and this was scaring potential finance managers interested in employing her. Who would want a world class student in his or her team? She will be a strong threat to the finance team leader and this explained why she was roaming the streets of Harare unemployed. She had to tone down the world academic record –perhaps remove them totally from the curriculum vitae and project herself as an average student?

Nyasha and Mentorship Programme

The fact that Nyasha was failing to get internship or trainee jobs did not make sense at all. In other countries such rare talents should be celebrated and cherished. In other countries such rare talents results in companies fighting for her. Realising that nothing fruitful was going to happen, I designed a mentorship programme that would assist her in getting relevant work experience so that she could land a job.

Removing the World Records on her Curriculum Vitae

I did not agree with removing her excellent academic record from her resume. She needed to wear the badge of  CIMA with honour and not care who does not appreciate nor fear  it. I designed a mentorship programme for her which included part time working experience working on a couple of projects for the Zimbabwe Business Ideas and Network forum. I also got her a part time job writing accounting modules for a leading Accounting Training Institute called Asranti based in the United Kingdom.

I also redesigned her curriculum vitae putting the world record academic achievements on top ! The good news is that she later on got a job at a local boys high school in the capital where she worked for a few months. Our target of the mentorship programme was for her to get commercial and business skills and the excellent news is that Nyasha landed an excellent job as a Finance Manager for a construction company based in Botswana. The Twanas saw value in this gem and were quick to grab her, they did not waste time in grabbing this rare talent which had been rejected by Harare.

So what was happening to Nyasha?

What was happening to Nyasha is something most young people can relate to-lack of opportunities in all the sectors of the economy. Even in cases where job opportunities exist-those with the best qualifications are sidelined because someone is afraid and wants to protect his or her job. In the case of CIMA qualified students the situation can be worse because managers who do not possess the qualification generally fear competition that is posed by the leading profession. The best strategy employed by those who fear it is to create barriers for this qualification and make sure that no ACMAs join finance teams!  It is not surprising to find a finance department dominated by a single accounting body. If a Finance Director is CIS qualified then he is likely to fill his department with only CIS qualified accountants. If the Finance Lead is ACCA qualified then she is likely to only allow the recruitment of ACCA qualified personnel.

Recommendation to Recruiters

The biggest asset in an organisation is human capital, this human capital should be well trained and be diverse. Human Resource Managers should be wary of barriers for talent such as Nyasha. In the case of Accounting, all accounting bodies play a crucial function in the success of an organisation. A Chartered Accountant or Certified Chartered Accountant plays a  crucial role in areas such as financial reporting, treasury management, internal controls, compliance and audits. A CIMA qualified accountant will complement the roles of the other accountants by bringing business or commercial skills, researches and expert planning. A good finance department should create value by bringing a mix of all accounting bodies under one roof where feasible. When a finance director creates barriers for other accounting bodies then the biggest loser is the company because competing company with a right mix of skills will definitely perform better than the one where practically everyone thinks the same.

The creation of barriers is contributing to the lack of competitiveness by most local companies and when one day the economy opens up, a lot of local companies are going to face stiff competition from new entrants that would have studied this weakness. If you are not allowing new talents to join your organisation then you risk losing out on new skills being imparted to new graduates. The United Kingdom headquartered  Finance Bodies are well known for carrying out thorough and relevant researches that result in them designing curriculum that is in demand by business leaders worldwide. The strong emphasis on continuous education enables members to be up to date with emerging finance and business skills.

Leading Zimbabweans who have studied CIMA includes the former Sunday Mail editor Edmund Kudakwashe Kudzayi who was believed to be the brains behind  the Baba Jukwa character. The impact of his work is not surprising to some of us because the new syllabus has a strong content on Social Media and Business. Readers are encouraged to read the chapter on IT and Competitive Advantage for Business. Other prominent people to have studied CIMA include the ZIMPLATS CEO, Mr Alex Mhembere and Dairiboard CEO, Mr Anthony Mandiwanza.

Nyasha as a ZBIN Volunteer

Harare may have lost this rare academic gem to Gaberone but we believe that we can still tap into her expertise. Nyasha has agreed to volunteer for ZBIN and will inspire and provide counselling to youths who have gone through similar experiences. Through our volunteer programme, she will provide expert advice  to those studying Accounting or Finance or entrepreneurs on the forum.

Many passengers continue to lose their lives in public transport accidents. The Lion King Bus accident where 43 lives were lost  is a case in mind, we can also add the kombi accident in Seke where more than 9 passengers perished on the spot. In all of the accidents, the number 1 problem is over speeding.

The question that comes to mind is ‘ Will passengers not be aware that a bus is over speeding?’ Interviews with the survivors of the Lion King Bus accident shows that passengers were aware of the over speeding by the bus driver. Some cautioned him but to no avail. He kept on speeding resulting in the horror crash!

The proposed solution from ZBIN is as follows;

1.All buses should have the contact details of the owner or supervisor of the bus. These details should be displayed where every passenger can see them. The details can also be put on the bus ticket. In cases of over speeding-passengers to immediately contact the number so that the supervisor can contact the driver.

2. Bus companies should invest in awareness campaigns to let passengers know of their rights to notify the supervisor or bus owner if they suspect that a bus is over speeding.

3. The system to be checked for compliance by authorities, log books of complaints received to be checked and action taken  by buses being monitored.

We believe that  when buses know that passengers know their rights, they know where to report when buses are over speeding then can  take corrective action on over speeding problems. The current scenario is that passengers just keep quiet and those who speak up are never listened to by bus drivers. If you continuously complain you risk being ejected from the bus or other passengers may disagree with you and encourage the driver to keep or increase speed!

Passengers should not sit idle whilst being driven to death, they should take action to stop over speeding! In the case of the Lion King Bus crash-passengers noticed over speeding more than 100 kilometres away before the horror crash. Had they phoned the bus supervisor or owner to notify them of the over speeding-chances are high that the 43 lives lost could have been saved.

Below we bring you some of the responses from the Zimbabwe Business Ideas and Network members

Ashley York Best way to stop buses speeding is for insurance companies not to supply third party liability cover to ungoverned buses. It will be too expensive for the bus companies to cover this amount of deaths without insurance.

Richmore Mudhodha I do support your idea coz we are losing precious and innocent souls

Missy Ree Ree Nyatananga Your idea is plausible Mdala.Shld the passenger’s request had been taken cognisance of maybe it cld hv been a different case

Tori Elles Mum Before I had a child I used to enjoy the high speed especially travelling to SA. Intercape yaitondisvota coz “yainanaira” coz of the speed track yavaive nayo don’t know about now. Senge madays eGo liner Supreme paive nadriver wandaifarira stereki Lloyd I think is his name haaa aiflya paroad iyeye nzeve dzaivhara senge ndege iri kuenda mudenga. Now that I’m a mother I’d rather vabereki vandirove ndaita noise kuti ndidzike when the driver is driving at a very high speed. Vabereki should learn to rise with one voice not kungogara vakabatira hana mumaoko vachimhanyisirwa kunourayiwa. This is just so sad mhan

Eng Brian Mukoyi Mdhara Rue. Thanks for bringing this subject up. But I have a different view. We seem to worry when a high number of people die in one accident. Measures should be taken across the board. How many cars travel above 120km/hr and we don’t seem concerned ? Whether it’s one life lost or 100 at once we need to deal with the same stick. Fuel tankers were banned from travelling at night, now we propose buses. Why not the smaller vehicles? Tinenge tichiendepi husiku with smaller cars where we do not want buses to go? Buses owners don’t lose anything in travelling on day if all passengers are restricted to day travelling. Speeding can happen during day and cause accidents. Let’s research on accidents in Zimbabwe and analyse the stats before we make such landmark decisions. My prayers are with the families of the deceased.

Eng Brian Mukoyi An afterthought. If a bus is running late the bus has to stop and passengers sleep on the road? Consider a passenger travelling from Harare to Vic Falls by bus. 880km. At 80km/hr the bus will take 11hrs. With stoppages of 15 minutes per rank in all towns along the way, the bus will stop for at least 1hr 30min. That’s a total of 12hr 30min. Just try to imagine the effect of the night ban to the passengers on such a trip

Brian Mathonsi We may blame each other till our Lord returns without mentioning the critical factor of our highways. I travelled at night some time back from SA via a Malayisha’s Quantam. The good fellow would fall asleep for a good 30s at a time and i would gently nudge him awake. We need wider roads. Period! Zimbabweans have this mentality of skirting the real issues that need addressing

Brian Mathonsi We cant still be using Ian Smith’s roads 37 years later and then accuse business people of ritual accidents. I refuse to entertain minimalistic arguments. The people responsible for delivering roads should deliver roads

Foster Leman James All buses should have satellite tracking so that their offices can monitor and instruct drivers to adhere to certain speeds

Exavior Chitova Chivige so sad that we lost so many lives, breadwinners and future leaders as well, but govt is to blame as well, people are ever travelling esp zimboz trying to make ends meet, kunoshava kuma neighbouring countries bcz of economic hardships back home, there are no jobs, no money yet you want to survive, the situation is just bad, every border human traffic ma zimbabweans, why, you rarely see south africans zambians malawians mozambicans coming to zim why but us going to those countries

Sabina Abdulla Above all comments are reasonable, But some passengers tell the bus driver to drive faster if the passengers are in a hurry to reach destination so both parties to be blamed here

Apton Kanyemba i work in the marine industry.we can control a ship that is about 3000 kms away,thats via satellite.and thats out at sea ey?,ofcoz thats technology.the same can be done by bus companies if they want to.a bus can be fitted wth a setillite tracking that control its speed and functions at any given time.someone can do fhat from their control room.but becoz owners dont want to meet that extra costs,i think Gov must make a it a condition befor issuing a new operators licence or renewing it.

Tori Elles Mum Realistically we all know that roads are far from being fixed so in the meantime should people continue to perish because roads aren’t being delivered? The blame is on the bus companies. Surely they can’t have their buses driving on our bad roads as though they are driving on SA roads which are good. They know the state of the roads and therefore should take measures to curb such incidents that may cause accidents e.g. installing tracking devices and putting supervisors contact details on the tickets so passengers can report if the driver isn’t taking heed of passengers plea to reduce speed. While we continue blaming the govt people are dying. There’s always a way of working around an unfavourable situation.

Alficha Marques We can use the tollgate clocking times to fine public transporters who are over speeding on roads with tollgates or something like that.

Blessing Bee Bling kare taiti tichienda kumusha tikasvika paroadblock bhazi romiswa hanzi hazvisi kufambirana ne timetable saka mirai kusvika nguva dzakwana or kudzokera kumashure taitoburuka mubhazi todya mbova tofambafamba musango kusvika tanzi nguva yakwana chiendai zvino zvikomana zvemabonda izvi zvinotoona business pauri hazvitobvunzi zvinongogamuchira mari nyangwe bhazi risiri mucondition as long atora mugove wake haana chinomutyisa

Blessing Bee Bling we demand renovations on the roads and cameras and speed trap devices like in S.A. zinara collects lumpsums from motorists on those suicidal roads where is the money going to?

Kevin Sena The Law Of Road Safety: When the driver and his vehicle lose it, the road must do something

Rachel Chitongo Dai kuri kuno mapassenger vakamukiya kukaroi

Mdala Wa Rue Abt 2 months ago i went to Mtoko Centre…ndichangobva pa toll gate kubuda muHre i saw an merc kombi yairova above 140 (i was travelling at 120)..the way he overtook me ndakangoti Mwari dai machengeta kombi iyi. Luckily it stopped at a roadblock and i overtook it. I thought all was ok only to find the kombi yakawa on my way back…it had burst a tyre a few kilos after Murewa….so kune vanowona a speeding public transport vehicle…vekunze uye vanenge varimo mukombi imomo…Do they have power or wongofa wakatarisa?

Christopher Chingono Every bus should have a police hotline which passengers can phone. This should be a toll free number to be used by passengers. Police at the next station can then be notified. Surely we cant let this driver carelessness go unpunished. The bus owners need to take reponsibility for their drivers actions as well. Bus companies need to start being taken to task for the behaviour of their drivers.

Rachel Chitongo vanhu don’t complain because vanenge vaneta ne the hundreds of stops in between

Justice Mungwini problem speeding does not start with bus driver,nor ends with him…long distance routes are more lucrative and a driver has to ‘perform’ to continue being given that route.calling supervisor driver z speeding will simply give the supervisor something to smile at…to involve the police at this season of tym will only give them an extra loophole yekuguma nayo ma driver mari…

Mai Mrehwa at one point we where in a speeding combi.we complained and the stupid driver started driving at 40km/h…needless to say …am still alive besides arriving hours late.