| Karikoga Kaseke | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Zimbabwe |
| Education | University of Zimbabwe, Newport University, Singapore Aviation Academy, University of Singapore |
| Occupation | |
| Years&#;active | |
Karikoga Kaseke was the former boss of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority. Before his retirement in August , Kaseke had been ZTA CEO since July . He died on 29 February following a major stroke he suffered in
Karikoga Kaseke was a retired Colonel of the Zimbabwe National Army. [1] He was born in Harare in being the first born in a family of eight children. He grew up in rural Mhondoro where he did his primary education and partly secondary education before joining the liberation struggle.[2] Karikoga Kaseke was married to Ireen with whom they have seven children.
Karikoga Kaseke has a son with Charlotte Dlakama. In February , Kaseke was ordered to pay $ and to directly pay the school fees for his son in addition to the money for the son's upkeep. Kaseke was also ordered to buy three sets of complete school uniforms for his son per year until he finishes schooling.[3]
Karikoga Kaseke dropped out of High school in to join the liberation struggle.[2]
Soon after independence, Kaseke was attested into the Zimbabwe National Army but was later on switched to the Military Intelligence Directory. He rose through the ranks from sergeant GSO Grade 3 in the counter-intelligence department.
Although Kaseke had initially failed to complete his studies due to commitments in the liberation struggle, he finished his studies after the war with ZEDCO college. He is also working towards a doctorate of Business Administration with the Newport University. At present he holds the following qualifications:
In the period that he has been at the helm of the ZTA, the organisation has won more awards than it had in the period to before he took over the reigns.
In July , Karikoga Kaseke was listed, in the BSR of 18 July , as a beneficiary in the RBZFarm Mechanisation Scheme, as a result of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme.
The data is analysed by recipients origin:.
Mashonaland East got US$47,5 million,
Mashonaland West US$44,7 million
Mashonaland Central had US$34,2 million.
Karikoga Kaseke, is listed under the thematic group “Senior Civil Servants”. He received US$58, [4]
It was alleged that Karikoga Kaeseke together with his wife hired several kombis to ferry people from Harare and Mashonaland East back to their homes in an attempt to block them from attending the First Lady's meeting with war veterans in Mazoe. Kaseke and wife were said to have gone to Fourth Street bus terminus where they started diverting people from traveling to Mazoe.[5] In his response to the allegations of having made attempts to sabotage Amai's rallies Kaseke argued that, "I want to be clear. I respect the First Family. I don’t just respect, I respect and fear the First Family. I instructed my wife to attend Amai’s rallies and make sure that when she is there, Amai [Grace] sees her. I told her that the only way Amai can see that she is there is by greeting her so that she sees you".[6]Kaseke went on to argue his case by stating that he had only gone to the bus terminus to arrange transport from his own pocket as several comrades had been left stranded at the bus terminus due to transport constraints. Kaseke also came to the defence of Walter Mzembi who has been facing allegations of having bought beer for some youths to sabotage Grace Mugabe's rallies.
Kaseke was alleged to have been involved in a confrontation with his boss and tourism minister Walter Mzembi over Kaseke's dethronement of a model for alleged bad behaviour. The decision to dethrone the model by Kaseke was overturned by Mzembi who argued that the dethronement process had not observed set protocols. It was also reported that should the model be reinstated, Kaseke had vowed to quit his job [7] Kaseke was also implicated in a case in which it was alleged that the ZTA had bought a Mercedes Benz worth over US$ for a non executive chairman, Mara Hativagone. The incident was said to have caused an outrage within the Zimbabwe Council for Tourism. Kaseke was nonetheless dismissive in his response arguing that the allegations were unfounded as the vehicle was not the personal property of Mara but was actually registered as a vehicle of the ZTA. [8]
Karikoga Kaseke was retired from the position of Chief Executive, due to his being indisposed.
The retirement came as a recommendation from a Medical Board and was effective 1 July He fell ill in November and Givemore Chidzidzi was appointed ZTA acting Chief Executive. Before him, Dr Rita Likukuma acted in that position.
The announcement was made by Acting Board Chairperson Dr Precious Sibiya.[9]