Gumbo orders NRZ to re-advertise GM post

Brighton Gumbo Business Reporter
THE Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development Joram Gumbo has ordered the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) board to re-advertise the general manager’s position. The directive comes a few months after the parastatal had picked a Zimbabwean believed to be working in Botswana for the top job. The board had forwarded its recommendations to the ministry for approval and was awaiting a response. Minister Gumbo told Business Chronicle last week that he had ordered all the parastatals that fall under his ministry including NRZ not to make any appointments without his input.

“I’m not aware of any selection of a candidate by the National Railways of Zimbabwe board, but what I know is that there’s no general manager. And I’ve instructed them to re-advertise for the post because I’ve told all the parastatals that they stop appointing anybody until I give an instruction,” he said.

The NRZ general manager’s position has been vacant since August 2013 when the then incumbent, Retired Air Commodore Mike Karakadzai died in a car accident. Lewis Mukwada is the acting general manager.

In August, NRZ board chairman Alvord Mabena said they had finalised the selection of the candidate to take up the job. A few months earlier, the board had re-advertised the post after all 40 who had responded and were interviewed in the first round of interviews failed. After re-advertising the job, a number of people in the Diaspora responded, and the Zimbabwean based in Botswana was picked.

“I’ve told them not to employ or dismiss any worker without communicating to me and this is the reason why we’ve reinstated workers at CAAZ, Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe and other parastatals,” said Gumbo.

As part of stabilising the system, NRZ has managed to finalise positions of finance director and operations director. It is believed that the system would go a long way in resuscitating the NRZ once the parastatal gets working capital to recapitalise its operations. Last year, former Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Obert Mpofu said the Development Bank of South Africa had agreed in principle to bail out the NRZ with a $750 million loan facility to fund the rehabilitation of the parastatal’s infrastructure.

Apart from the NRZ, a number of other parastatals under the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development are being run by acting chief executives. These include the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe and Central Mechanical Engineering Department.