adminA LOT of work needs to be done if the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) is to return to its former glory days when it used to be the transporter of choice, be it by business or individuals. Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister, Dr Obert Mpofu recently appointed a new NRZ board chaired by its former general manager, Engineer Alvord Mabena, to lead the turnaround effort.
Chronicle Senior Business Reporter Oliver Kazunga (OK) spoke to Eng Mabena (AM) to find out his vision and how the new board hopes to revive the strategic parastatal.
Below are excerpts of the interview:
OK: Congratulations Eng Mabena on your recent re-appointment as the NRZ board chairman
AM: Thank you.
OK: Now that you’ve bounced back at NRZ what is your vision for the country’s railway company given that the firm is saddled with numerous challenges?
AM: I have not been to the NRZ for the past 15 years so obviously it will be too early for me to start defining anything, but we’ve an idea of how railway organisations are run and it takes a lot of resources, vision and expertise to put things together, and we have got an idea of what is required. What is important is that everybody has to come to the party. Most importantly I accept this responsibility (NRZ chairmanship) because I firmly believe that as a responsible citizen we have an obligation to serve the country.
OK: How much time should the country wait for a turnaround at NRZ under your chairmanship?
AM: For the railways to be up and running again everything else that deals with it must breathe that is to say for railways to carry people, those people must have money in their pockets to pay for the service. For the railways to service industry and commerce, it must be breathing. In summary it means the economy as a whole must be breathing as this is where the revenue for the railways to sustain itself comes from. The railways industry requires heavy investments and the lead times can be long. It is important therefore to guard against expecting instant results. From what l know most of rail infrastructure at NRZ now is near dysfunctional, the rolling stock also dysfunctional let alone the right culture of running a business.
OK: How do you intend to turn around NRZ?
AM: My role and the board will be to give the necessary direction, pace and altitude towards a new NRZ. For the past 15 years a lot has changed in terms of the matrix of our rail-based industries. For example, the changes are noticeable in terms of technology. We can’t therefore expect to recreate the same railways as we knew it. We will have to do a lot of systems re-engineering to bring it in line with modern rail systems and best practices. My first board meeting will be on June 27 and from that time I will “discover” what exists and what needs to be done and start developing the necessary action plans. For now, I have not yet sat down with my board to share what we have in our minds and I think any definite direction will come from there.
OK: Considering the present state of affairs at NRZ, as the new board chairperson, how do you intend to resuscitate the railway system?
AM: We will need to benchmark the railways of today and clarify what exists across the board. I will need to tap the past extensively internally from all staff that is rail management and shop floor employees as I believe they all have a contribution. As a board we will listen very carefully and hoping that by the end of the day it is a board that will give direction. Although I have been retired for the past 15 years, I’ve remained very much active across all sectors of the economy at corporate level so I have an appreciation of the challenges that affect us as an economy. My country vision is that as a nation we must have a clear roadmap of where we want to take Zimbabwe in the next 50 years across all sectors.
OK: How feasible is it for the country to come up with a roadmap that will take Zimbabwe for the next 50 years?
AM: For that to happen, it needs a well thought out, committed all-embracing systems approach and I don’t see that being difficult. It saddens me that as NRZ we’ve lost our regional rankings where we used to be a leading railway in the region apart from South Africa to a situation where we are compared to some small regional railways. Even by international standards, we were a known small efficient railway somewhere in Africa but as it turns out we no longer exist on the map of the international railway industry. There was a time when we as regional railway chief executives had a clear plan to position our regional railways to rail standards and a force to reckon with to serve our regional economies.
OK: How do you comment on some of your achievements during your first tenure at the NRZ?
AM: We did a lot of work synchronising our rail operating systems, standardising our rail equipment to achieve interchangeability of our spare parts so that our rail systems saw no physical or national boundaries towards a seamless service. And that was the reason why we formed as regional rail chief executives what we now call the Southern African Railways Association (SARA) for which I was the first president.
OK: How do you comment on the challenges facing our rail network at the moment?
AM: We’re faced with the challenge of decongesting our road network and bringing back both passengers and goods traffic to rail. Inasmuch as we may generally think that it is an expensive exercise to revive railways, it still remains a better, more economic option than road-based traffic because that is immensely expensive to carry in terms of money and lives. So it is therefore important that in the process appropriate overarching policies and frameworks are in place. We (NRZ) will obviously be working with government on all these matters; the caution is to avoid too early expectations because this is not any easy task.
OK: Of late, the media has been awash with stories to do with corruption at State enterprises and parastatals, as the new board chairperson, should there be corruption at NRZ, how do you intend to address this vice?
AM: I wouldn’t have accepted this appointment if I entertained any forms of corruption as I have never been involved in any form of corruption. I am a businessperson, professional and am clear on an issue of corporate governance as always the issue of corruption or favouritism will never be in my vocabulary. It’s all about doing things the right way, and it’s all about appropriate skills. I can say should I come across any incidents of corruption my answer is simple; just knock it off. I have never been involved in corruption neither do I believe in it. It’s all about efficiency, efficiency, efficiency whether you’re talking about an individual or an organization.
OK: Thank you so much for according me this time to interview you, Engineer.
AM: You’re welcome.
derick.khumalo