The Zimbabwe Institute of Public Relations (ZIPR) has announced the induction of a new council. The body that governs public relations professionals in the country elected Godfrey “Chief” Koti as president at the Annual General Meeting in Harare on the 19th of March 2020. Hazel Zisanhi comes in as vice president.
Koti is taking over from outgoing president Francis Chimhanda, and Zisanhi took over from Odiline Kava.
A new and experienced council was also voted in at the AGM. Between them, they hold experience in different sectors of business and communications. The new council consists of Sugar Chagonda from the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) as Treasurer, Salome Nziramasanga (St Giles) as Secretary, as well as Tapuwa Nduku- Makurumure (Vivid-BCW), Maimba Mapuranga (Kutting Edge Solutions), Thando Nkomo (NUST and Maracomms) and Hilgard Kamuna (Magna Carta).
Formed in 1957, ZIPR is the professional organisation that caters for Public Relations practitioners. It is arguably one of the oldest professional organisations in the country. Its role is to ensure professional renewal in line with international trends, organise seminars and conferences, promote social interaction and define the ethics of the Public Relations profession. ZIPR also intends to facilitate the absorption of its graduates by corporates.
In his acceptance speech, Mr. Koti, who is the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) Head of Corporate Affairs and Spokesperson, said that his council’s focus will be on continuing to position the Institute as a professional governance body.
“We will work on growing and guiding professional Public Relations practitioners in the country. As ZIPR, we also seek to work with other bodies in order to transform the way organisations communicate in Zimbabwe,” he said.
Before joining ZTA, Koti was the Marketing and Social Media Manager for Zimpapers and presenter at StarFM. He has also worked for Zimbabwe Cricket and was a Cricket sportswriter for The Herald, The Chronicle, Power Play, and the Mail.
Ms. Zisanhi is an experienced Public relations practitioner and news anchor who has worked for Air Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation and the ZTA. She is keen to take on the leading role by offering strategic guidance for the organisation over the course of her tenure.
Mr. Koti will serve a one-year term as President of ZIPR while the rest of the council members will serve two years.