Should ZSE boss Chirume step down over domestic abuse scandal?

Zimbabwe Stock Exchange Chief Executive, Alban Chirume

There is not much happening on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange lately. At the last count, there were only 13 trades, with just two counters dominating trading. Total turnover for the day was a miserly $284,7 thousand. Spare a thought for the 10-plus stockbroking firms competing for an increasingly dwindling cake. However, this activity or lack thereof on the ZSE cannot be said for its boss Alban Chirume`s personal life. Mr Chirume has been grabbing the headlines in his domestic dispute case with his wife Susan Mutangadura.

Sure, domestic violence cases happen all the time, and just peering through Crimes and Courts section of all the local dailies, gives insights into just how prevalent this has become. At the heart of Mr Chirume`s and Ms Mutangara`s situation however, is the issue of their standing in corporate Zimbabwe. Alban Chirume, is the face of Zimbabwe`s capital markets as chief executive of the ZSE, while Susan Mutangadura sits on the Board of one of Zimbabwe`s listed multi-national corporation, Lafarge. In addition, she also serves as the chair of The Institute of Directors Zimbabwe (IODZ) as well as the Culture Fund Trust.

It obviously goes without saying that as the law dictates, one is always presumed innocent until proven guilty. Nonetheless, as this case continues to drag on, it can be argued that the two individuals are bringing the names of the organisations they represent into disrepute.

The exact definition of an individual bringing an organisation into disrepute through their conduct in their personal lives is neither here nor there. In the past however, scandals involving sex, domestic abuse, drug and alcohol abuse have almost always led to an executive stepping down or being fired by the Board of Directors.

Susan Mutangadura, IODZ Chairperson

A classic example would be that of Silicon Valley tech company RadiumOne`s CEO, founder and chair, Gurbaksh Chahal, who was forced to step down in 2014 after he pled guilty to domestic violence and battery charges, following an altercation that saw him beat up his girlfriend.  Interestingly, despite his guilty plea it was only after the company received backlash from some of its high profile customers over the case, that RadiumOne`s Board voted to terminate Mr Chahal`s contract. This only goes to show that such Board disciplinary action following such corporate scandals is not always easy to institute.

Whether they like it or not, both Mr Chirume and Ms Mutangadura occupy influential positions in the corporate sector, and the identity of their respective organisations is inadvertently attached to them. With accusations and counter-accusations of physical abuse flying both ways, this case could even get nastier. Are the respective organisations that both Ms Mutangadura and Mr Chirume preside over prepared to live with the reputational damage inflicted on them as a result of this domestic abuse scandal? Admittedly, it is not easy to quantify the reputational damage that this scandal might bring to either the ZSE or the IODZ.

Shareholder activism is somewhat lethargic or inexistent in Zimbabwe. Over the years, countless corporate ‘transgressions’ of varying degrees have been swept under the mat, without any meaningful holding to account of the individuals involved. In 2014, Joe Mutizwa`s family trust sold a substantial number of Star Africa shares during a closed period, something which is prohibited under the ZSE`s own listing rules as he is its Board chair. An apology was all it took for this matter to be forgotten. Earlier in 2012, Albert Nhau, then NSSA Board chair was alleged to have negotiated a deal at his home, which resulted in NSSA buying a listed company`s shares from his friends at a premium, causing financial losses to the organisation.

Still without a final verdict on the case having been reached, it would be remiss however to shun the discussion on whether the private conduct of the two individuals has caused reputational damage to the organisations they represent, and so cause them to face action, which as international precedence has shown, may lead to termination the of contracts. It is incomprehensible however, that any one of the two would step down on their own volition, whether proven guilty or not.