adminNyemudzai Kakore, Harare Bureau
The Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Joram Gumbo, has directed parastatals to appoint directors and managers who are in various acting capacities or fire them if they are not performing. Speaking at the CMED strategy review workshop on Wednesday, Minister Gumbo said President Robert Mugabe had tasked the government to reign in all parastatals and enterprises so that they sustained themselves and are able to declare dividends.
“Most of your staff are in acting positions, why? I don’t think Zimbabwe is poor in terms of trained people and professionals who want the jobs. At Air Zimbabwe I’ve 11 acting managers,” he said.
“The Minister is there to appoint the board, but the board must make sure that management is there to deliver and take responsibility. Appoint and promote people if they deliver, but fire them if they fail to perform. If you’re not performing as the board, I’ll come and whip and make sure you perform well.
“At our Cabinet meeting on Monday, President Mugabe said we must make sure that state enterprises or parastatals should declare dividends, otherwise they don’t need to exist and I’m happy you’re aware and by the end of this year, you’ll declare a dividend,” he said.
He said financial reporting in parastatals and public enterprises had been an area of concern but commended CMED for being up-to date on its financial statements. Minister Gumbo said if those in acting capacities were confirmed in their positions, they would be in a position to make critical decisions.
He said he had tasked the CMED board to deal with legacy issues and was looking forward to receiving a report on the matter and the recovery of the money paid. “I urged the board and management to shun corruption and devise strategies to root out this cancerous disease from within the establishment,” he said.
CMED lost $2.7 million following the award of a fuel supply tender to a company trading as First Oil which never delivered the fuel despite having been paid. The minister also bemoaned the current situation whereby CMED was owed as much as $23 million and said this affected its capacity to deliver on its mandate.
Minister Gumbo said CMED should come up with strategies to stop the further ballooning of the debt. “Your service stations require a face lift to meet standards as well as match competition. I would like you to consider embarking on a massive refurbishment programme of your service stations to enable you to compete with other players on the market,” said Minister Gumbo.
Online Reporter