From the dusty street of Zimbabwe to an ISACA hall of fame inductee

The Story of Tichaona Zororo

I AM deeply humbled to be inducted into the first class of ISACA Hall of Fame, following the footsteps of ISACA luminaries such as Eugene Frank, Michael Cangemi and the late Paul Williams.

The ISACA Hall of Fame recognizes members who have shown exemplary dedication to advancing ISACA’s purpose through volunteer service, member engagement and other activities. To fully understand what this accolade means to me let me take you where I started:

Tichaona Zororo

Growing up in the dusty streets of Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe, I always dreamt of becoming a chartered accountant (CA). But in January 1993, when I was about to start my final primary school grade, my mother, Christine, Ndamuonepi Zororo passed away. Everything changed; my mother was our sole bread winner. I quickly rolled up my sleeves and started moulding bricks for sale. The proceeds from my venture, and the financial support from the Seke 11 Primary School Development Association and some of my teachers (Mrs. Chikorowondo, Mr. Muswe and Mr Kanhongo) helped pay my primary school fees.

I self-funded the first years of my high school (form 1 to 3), but also got additional support from social welfare. By the time I reached form four, my brick moulding venture had taken off, so I managed to self-fund the rest of my high school. After passing my advance level I was briefly hired by Founders Building Society, one of the promising banks at that time. But something in me yearned for further self-development.

In August 2001, I left my business and a very young family to pursue a B.Sc. Honours in Information Systems at Midlands State University (MSU) in Gweru, Zimbabwe.

Whilst at university, I was also studying for a Chartered Institute Secretaries (CIS) to fulfil my aborted dream of becoming a CA. I became a CIS member and received the CIS magazines every month. I learnt of ISACA immediately on completion of my Honours Degree in June 2005.

From 2005 I would go through ISACA materials – journals and some research papers almost every day. In addition to the rich ISACA materials on IT Assurance, Governance, Risk and Security the acknowledgment section caught my attention with much intense – I took note of the ISACA giants that were contributing to the success of ISACA. The likes of Professor Wim Van Grembergen, John W Lainhart, Howard Nicholson, Erik Guldentops, Marios Damianides and Professor Steven De Haes to mention but a few. I used to tell my former college mates and friends that one day I will appear on the ISACA publications acknowledgements section.

In 2007 I moved from Zimbabwe to South Africa to further my studies at Wits University. It was during my early days at Wits University that I learnt of ISACA South Africa (SA) Chapter. I attended almost every chapter meeting since then.

I joined the ISACA South Africa Chapter Board after 5 years of being a member in good standing in 2012 as Certifications Director for the 2012 – 2014 term. I became the Vice President in 2014 for the 2014 – 2016 term. In 2016 I became the Chapter President for the 2016 – 2018 term, becoming the youngest person to chair the ISACA South Africa Chapter Board. I am currently the Immediate Past President. Serving more in board advisory capacity.

As a local board member, I spend sleepless nights doing chapter work: Formulating new ways of stakeholder engagements such as Government Information Technology Officers Council, Southern African Development Committee, Auditor General of South Africa Free CISA Revision Classes, Cybersecurity Bill Review, CIOs, CAES Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner sessions. On the way, I committed my own resources and over 80% of my time serving the Chapter and ISACA in general.

I recall at one time distributing ISACA and COBIT brochures in libraries and different educational events around South Africa. I spoke at a number of ISACA South Africa Chapter conferences, regional events, student associations in various universities in South Africa encouraging students to be members and to pursue ISACA related career paths. I presented ISACA and several ISACA Chapters conferences– Namibia, Zambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Malaysia, Netherlands to mention a few. I used my own company resources to design chapter event banners and provided guidance and moral support in formation of new chapters in Africa and Across the globe.

During 2009 and 2010 I got involved in the SME review of COBIT 5 becoming more actively involved with ISACA international. Soon after the SME review, I started contributing to CGEIT and CRISC questions development and earned a couple of US dollars for a number of questions that were accepted; Beyond the money, the most important gratification was the feeling that a son of the soil, a son from the dust-covered streets of Zimbabwe was now counted amongst the questions database contributors of the flagship ISACA certifications.

When COBIT 5 was published in April 2012, I was acknowledged as a subject matter expert becoming the first Zimbabwean and amongst very few Africans to achieve such a feat. This was a ground breaking moment for me. I started getting involved in publishing articles, contributing to the Certifications Review Manuals, numerous COBIT publications and ISACA research papers on emerging topics such as Big Data, Cloud Computing, Social Media, BYOD and Outsourced IT Services, speaking at ISACA and the Institute of Internal auditors international, regional and chapter conferences including the prestigious COBIT Conferences. The same year in 2012, I joined the ISACA CGEIT Test Enhancement Sub Committee.

In 2013 I was appointed to the ISACA External Advocacy Committee and in 2014 I joined the flagship ISACA Framework Committee – charged with identifying and supporting activities required to define, build and maintain a globally applicable and useable framework for enterprise digital and innovation management and governance.

I became the first COBIT Certified Assessor in Southern Africa in 2015. In 2016 I became the first African to sit on the ISACA International Board of Directors. I was privileged to serve on the board together with other distinguished professionals such as Christos K. Dimitriadis, Jeff Spivey, Tony Hayes, Matt Loeb, Allan Boardman, Rob Stroud to mention but a few for 4 years. During that tenure I also chaired ISACA’s Audit and Risk Committee for 2 consecutive years. I was part of the Finance Committee, the Finance Committee, the Technology Committee and the Board COBIT 2019 Liaison Committee.

In 2017 I was voted the best speaker Africa and Asia CACS conferences. I was also awarded the prestigious ISACA Harold Weiss Award for Outstanding Achievement for exceptional dedication and achievement that far exceeds the norm in IT governance. The Harold Weiss Award for Outstanding Achievement was instituted in 1985 to recognize individuals for dedication to the IT governance profession.

Space would not allow me to write all the ISACA stories, milestones, dedications and commitments; the 72 hours plane journeys for board meetings, research committees and international conferences, the sleepless nights spend preparing for TV interviews, strategic planning, refining conferences slides and reading board packs.

My goal at this stage is to raise more Tichs (As I am affectionately called in the ISACA Community) who will transcend what I have achieved and done for ISACA and its community.

My gratitude goes to my beautiful wife Ruth and our daughters for the unconditional support. Doing this required working bottomless hours and dozens of global trips. Whenever I was not at home our youngest daughter would say “dad is at ISACA.”

I dedicate this honour to so many ISACA global volunteers and staff who have sacrificed their time and expertise to transform people’s lives through enabling the positive potential of technology.

Tichaona Zororo, CIA, CISA, CISM, CRMA, CRISC, CDPSE, CGEIT, COBIT Certified Assessor is a Digital Transformation and Innovation Advisory Executive with EGIT | Enterprise Governance of IT (Pty) Ltd an IT Consulting . He is an advisor to a number of Boards and Boards of Directors, IT and business leaders across the Globe on the utilisation of Digital Technologies to create and preserve stakeholder value, create new Business Models, Governance and Management of Enterprise IT, IT Risk, Cybersecurity, Digital and Digital Transformation and IT Auditing. He is a Non-Executive Director and an Audit & Risk Committee Member. He is a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors Global Content Advisory Council.