A solution-oriented and innovative lawyer characterised by her strategic approach to business and her ‘outside the box’ method of thinking, Mirirai Washaya receives praise by a source for her ‘strong and uncompromising personality with regards to integrity and upholding best corporate governance practices. Mirirai believes in continuous learning, development, improvement, empowerment and equality’, the source adds.

‘She adopts a coaching and mentoring approach to leadership with the aim of developing her team into future mindful leaders, in an atmosphere that encourages learning, growth and cooperative team work’.

During her long-term tenure at BancABC in Zimbabwe, Washaya has impressed in the domains of regulation, compliance and risk management. In early 2016, for instance, she was instrumental in changing and preventing the local regulator from implementing a directive that would have resulted in banks breaching the banker-client contractual relationship with the regulator. As a result, the regulator withdrew its directive. One of the pioneers in compliance in Zimbabwe, Washaya began a compliance management practice in 2002, when legal compliance management was still in its infancy. In 2009, she established and championed the introduction of using a risk management approach to legal compliance at BancABC Zimbabwe. She developed the first compliance risk management plans that were adopted across the BancABC Group. In addition to providing professional legal services to the board and management, Washaya has assisted he board and executives to keep abreast with local and international corporate governance codes and ethical leadership developments by implementing innovative and practical training.

According to a nominator, Washaya effectively ‘uses her ability to analyse and decipher laws, regulations and principles from complex to simple terms and action items in a manner that is easy to understood and implement’. In recognition for her achievements, Washaya emerged as one of the final nominees in the running for the prestigious “Outstanding Advocate and Legal Leader of the year” award at the Megafest Women’s Awards 2017.