The Sunday Mail
Investigations Editor
The Radiation Protection Authority of Zimbabwe (RPAZ) chief executive officer, Mr Reward Severa has stepped down amid allegations of abusing a company vehicle and buying high-end cellphones without board approval.
Documents at hand show that Mr Severa recently tendered his resignation and will leave office on January 31, 2019 following pressure from the board to explain some questionable transactions.
RPAZ board chair, Dr Ntokozo Ndlovu wrote to fellow board members on October 31, 2018, notifying them of Mr Severa’s resignation.
She wrote: “I write to notify you that the chief executive officer has tendered his resignation and his last day of employment will be 31st of January 2019.
“I have notified the shareholder of this development and now await their further instructions. You will be notified of any further developments.”
The Sunday Mail Business understands that Mr Severa allegedly abused a company vehicle — a Nissan double cab — without board authority.
The RPAZ board then met on July 3, 2018 and resolved that Mr Severa pay US$24 000 for the alleged vehicle abuse.
In a letter written to Mr Severa by the RPAZ board human resources committee on October 29, 2018, the radiation authority boss was instructed to pay for vehicle use.
The committee wrote: “The Radiation Protection Board resolved to recover from you the equivalent of financial prejudice to the RPAZ resulting from the abuse of the RPAZ’s pool vehicle to the amount of US$24 139,32.
“You are required to make submissions to the human resources committee of your proposal on how to settle the debt.”
Mr Severa also allegedly bought a phone from Econet using a company name.
The company failed to pay the US$1 900 debt for the two iPhone 6 mobile phones and in December 2017, Mr Severa paid US$600 using his personal funds.
Through its lawyers, Econet made several demands to recover the money. All was in vain until Econet decided to sue RPAZ in October 2018.
After the Econet summons, Mr Severa allegedly tried to arm-twist the RPAZ finance office to settle the debt.
Recently contacted for comment, Mr Severa denied the allegations, saying the Econet debt was supposed to be paid through his airtime allowance.
He said that he did not sign the Econet debt forms, claiming that a company representative did that, which shows that everything was above board.
On vehicle abuse allegations, Mr Severa said he only used the car for his personal issues when he was busy with RPAZ work.
“It’s just a witch-hunt because I followed procedure on everything I did. It’s work politics, I believe in transparency and I have all the information in black and white to prove my innocence,” he said.
