dyton mupawaenda
The Herald, 8 August 1992
THE 14 applicants shortlisted for the post of Air Zimbabwe’s general manager are not acceptable at the moment, the Minister of Transport and Energy, Mr Denis Norman, has said.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Herald in Harare yesterday, Mr Norman said: “Nobody has given me a name that I can accept at the moment and it would also be unfair to bring in a new general manager at a time when we are looking at the restructuring of Air Zimbabwe.”
The new Air Zimbabwe chairman, Mr Malcolm Thompson, will appoint a firm of consultants who will help the planned restructuring of the airline to prepare Air Zimbabwe for the competitive challenges of the 1990s.
A senior Air Zimbabwe official, Cde Ticharwa Garabga, has been acting as general manager since Cde Fungai Musara was ordered to go on forced leave last year before his eventual dismissal.
“It (restructuring) is a pretty tough assignment and we will not get concrete results in less than two months. However, I am confident that the new general manager will come from within Air Zimbabwe,” said the minister.
On the proposed new terminals for Harare International Airport, Mr Norman said a contract for its design would be signed next week and declined to disclose who had won the contract.
Thereafter, the contractors would go to work and if their design is approved, it would then be offered for tender to international constructors within the next six months, he said.
Turning to Affretair, he said the national air cargo line, would be getting its third aircraft next week on lease for a year from GPA of Ireland.
The aircraft, a DC871, has a carrying capacity of 40 tonnes, and has 18 palate positions and is larger than the other two DC855s which Affretair has.
The minister said the third aircraft would help the country meet its cargo export demand and was being leased because Zimbabwe could not afford to buy a new aircraft at the moment.
Lessons for today:
The passage reveals several underlying problems at Air Zimbabwe and within the broader transport and energy sector in Zimbabwe at the time.
The Minister of Transport and Energy, Denis Norman, expressed dissatisfaction with all 14 shortlisted candidates for the general manager position at Air Zimbabwe.
Air Zimbabwe was undergoing a major restructuring process to prepare for the competitive demands of the 1990s. The minister felt it was unfair to appoint a new general manager during this uncertain period, suggesting internal instability and a need for strategic clarity before leadership changes.
Online Reporter