UPDATE OF RESTORATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (ROHR) ZIMBABWE RECORDS WITH UKBA

From: – ROHR Zimbabwe Board of Trustees

 

Date: – 17th January 2012

RE: UPDATE OF RESTORATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (ROHR) ZIMBABWE RECORDS WITH UKBA

Dear Sir / Madam,

I write on behalf of the Board of Trustees to update you regarding developments within our
organization ROHR Zimbabwe. This is mainly because you handle applications for asylum and related matters from some of our members in the UK, who are afraid to return to Zimbabwe for fear of persecution or murder by Zimbabwe government sponsored agents or ZANU PF thugs, due to our members’ activism on the human rights front.

 

Please be advised that there has been a change in membership and leadership within the Board of Trustees. Mr Ephraim Tapa is no longer a member of ROHR Zimbabwe and
as such he no longer has the authority to act on behalf of ROHR Zimbabwe or its members. Mr Ephraim Tapa, has been writing and signing letters of confirmation and /or support for asylum seeking members, as well as standing as witness for some of our members in court. He was expelled from the Board of Trustees of ROHR Zimbabwe and from ROHR Zimbabwe through a resolution of a Board Meeting of 7th – 8th July 2011. This was for reasons of misappropriation of the organization’s funds and assets as well as disregard for governance issues and criminal discharge of office. We had delayed this communication to you due to internal challenges and our desire to try and settle matters
diplomatically beforehand, however, it is now clear that this has not been successful. I therefore apologise for any inconveniences caused by the delay in communication.

As an organisation accountable to its members, we are aware that despite his expulsion from ROHR Zimbabwe and official notification to him in writing, he has continued to masquerade
as “The President of ROHR Zimbabwe” and as such Mr Ephraim Tapa may attempt to mislead you and other stakeholders. We are aware that he may try and assert his position
by continuing to sign asylum support letters which would not have been approved by ROHR Zimbabwe’s U.K Chapter National Executive Committee. Mr. Tapa has taken extreme and
damaging measures since July 2011 to the detriment of the organisation’s goodwill and integrity. We are in the process of rebuilding the confidence of all stakeholders in U.K and in
Zimbabwe and setting up policies and procedure to avoid a recurrence of the same.

Please note that amongst the issues for which, he was expelled from ROHR Zimbabwe, Mr Ephraim Tapa misappropriated verified amounts of around £26 000.00 (Twenty-Six
Thousand Pounds) and £11 000.00 (Eleven Thousand Pounds). He registered ROHR Zimbabwe in the U.K as a company limited by guarantee without the knowledge of the Board of Trustees and also without the knowledge of members of ROHR Zimbabwe in the U.K.  He has also refused to handover administration rights to the organisation’s website since July 2011 and has been using this to pass on propaganda and to promote his personal interests. Mr. Tapa continues to use his influence resulting in the refusal of a dismissed administrator to handover the organisation’s banking signatory rights to the rightful department within the U.K chapter’s National Executive department and we are extremely concerned.On Friday 6th January 2012, ROHR Zimbabwe Board of Trustee members reported Mr Ephraim Tapa to the Metropolitan Police at Wandsworths Police Station. The Crime reference number is xxxxxxxxxxx and the matter is now under investigation.

Please be advised that, going forward an authentic letter of support issued to any member or supporter of ROHR Zimbabwe will be signed by any two from the following list of members
of The National Executive Committee of the U.K Chapter of ROHR Zimbabwe, namely;

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx – designation: -xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx – designation: -xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx – designation: -xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx – designation: -xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

OR

By one from the following members of the Board of Trustees of ROHR Zimbabwe;

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx – designation: -xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx – designation: -xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Each of the above-named individuals will submit a verification of their signature for your records shortly. We are also in the process of setting up new offices and contact details in the
United Kingdom and will inform you as soon as this is completed. In the mean time we would appreciate communication via the new corporate emails and the Zimbabwe office contact details.

As a result of Mr. Tapa’s refusal to handover the administration of the organisation’s website we have set up an additional website www.rohrzim.org. When all the internal matters are
resolved we will consolidate the two and advise you accordingly. We have also issued corporate emails to key personnel as part of the rebranding process and would like to ask that you use these in all future communication.

For more detail, we draw your attention to a press statement by ROHR Zimbabwe U.K Chapter National Executive Committee of 7th January 2012 which has been published in various online news publications on 8th January, 2012. Please follow the links below;
http://www.zimeye.org/?p=43749
http://www.zimguardian.com/?p=26558
http://nehandaradio.com/2012/01/09/ephraim-tapa-reported-to-uk-police/

I attach the statement from the Information and Publicity Department, which contains more details.

Yours Sincerely,

Grace Mupfurutsa
Chairperson – ROHR Zimbabwe Boards of Trustees
Address: ————————————————————————————————
grace@rohrzim.org   Contact: ————————————