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Mr James Maridadi

Herald Reporter
Broke Kingstons Holdings wants to venture into broadcasting, insisting that the hard copy concept has been overtaken by technology.
Kingstons acting chief executive Mrs Kiitumetsi Zawanda said this during a familiarisation tour of the company by the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Information, Media and Broadcasting yesterday.

She said: “We want to venture into broadcasting. The hard copy concept has been overtaken by technology, while book-selling is still an anchor of the education system we want to keep pace with trends.” She said the book-seller was saddled with a US$5 million debt.

Mrs Zawanda said they had also applied for a radio licence in Kariba. Mabvuku-Tafara MP Mr James Maridadi (MDC-T) expressed reservations on the fruition of Kingston’s ambitions in the absence of a substantive board and chief executive. But shareholder representative Mrs Florence Sigudu-Matambo said Government was in the process of constituting the board.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe Media Commission chief executive Dr Tafataona Mahoso yesterday told the same committee that operations had been constrained because funding from Treasury was declining despite the organisation growing.

“The funding base for this enlarged and elevated ZMC has heavily diminished in contrast to the former MIC. The reforms, although widely publicised and celebrated in some quarters, have not been matched with resources,” said Dr Mahoso.