admin
Tafara Shumba Correspondent
Not many weeks ago, the chairman of the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), Engineer Alford Mabhena, was relieved of his duties by Transport and Infrastructural Development minister Dr Joram Gumbo.
The same minister has this week dismissed Godwills Masimirembwa from the CMED (Pvt) Ltd board.
Dr Gumbo was recently appointed transport minister, replacing Dr Obert Mpofu who moved to the Macro-economic Planning and Investment Promotion Ministry.
The latter appointed these two former board chairmen.
In both cases, Dr Gumbo said his decisions were motivated by his ongoing “programmes to align the activities and strategic plan of parastatals and State-owned enterprises under my ministry”. Thus, this alignment needs him to effect changes in the leadership of these parastatals.
If those decisions are going to transform these ailing public enterprises, then all that can be said is amen. What is not clear is whether the incumbents have failed or resisted his alignment programmes. According to the National Code on Corporate Governance (NCCG), boards are evaluated against set targets.
It would have been more rational if the minister had cited failure to meet set objectives as the reason for their dismissal.
If information making the rounds in various newsrooms is anything to go by, then the minister’s decision is ill-fated.
It is said that Masimirembwa had a tiff with the minister over the reinstatement of CMED’s suspended managing director, Davison Mhaka. Dr Gumbo allegedly wants Mhaka to be reinstated while Masimirembwa resisted the move.
In a normal scenario, it was supposed to be the other way round. It is quite confusing that Dr Gumbo wants to reinstate a person who, through his negligence and incompetence, allowed Government to be prejudiced of $3 million in a botched fuel deal. That figure is so colossal that it can pay bonuses for almost 10 000 civil servants.
It is least expected for a learned minister to fight from the corner of a manager who is a liability to Government.
Parastatals such as CMED are so critical in the socio-economic drive. Therefore, people who exhibit gross negligence such as this must not be found anywhere near any parastatal.
The recovery of the $3 million from First Oil was one of the major objectives of the Masimirembwa-led board.
The board had done fairly well in this regard, having set up a commission of inquiry and a tribunal headed by respectable legal experts. Both cited gross negligence by the CMED management headed by Mhaka, as the cause of the scam.
Is this the calibre of a manager that will assist the minister in aligning the activities and strategic plans of the parastatals under his jurisdiction?
The public awaits to see if the alignment will transform these public institutions particularly the recovery of the $3 million.
Hopefully, Masimirembwa’s dismissal will not spell the end of the investigations into the circumstances surrounding the fuel scam.
It would have been more prudent if the minister had allowed the due process to go through to conclusion before calling for Mhaka’s reinstatement.
It’s a serious matter minister; the public still needs its money back. We pray that in doing this, the minister will not be misconstrued as a self-interested actor.
This is moreso in an era where graft is the greatest State enemy.
In one of the interviews, Dr Gumbo told the media that “they (board members) work at the pleasure of the minister and it’s not a permanent job”.
Yes, according to the NCCG, the responsible minister, in accordance with the enabling legislation, appoints one of the members of the board to be as chairperson and another as deputy chairperson both of whom shall, except where the chair is also the CEO of the organisation, be non-executive directors for the duration of their tenure of office.
That makes sense at face value but that is where the problem with our parastatals lies.
There is a disturbing and growing trend in the way boards of State enterprises are appointed.
Every new minister wants to bring in his or her people to sit on the boards under their sway. Some ministers have actually changed more than three ministries with their cronies in trail. There are some instances where personal differences between ministers impacted the boards and even the executive management. A new minister feels, for some reason, that he doesn’t want to work with loyalists of his predecessor.
This has impacted on the continuity and stability of the leadership and policies of the boards. This is the reason why the NCCG prescribes that at least a third of the board must be retained upon the expiry of the board’s term.
In many cases, relatives and cronies who lack commercial background and corporate governance principles are appointed as board members. This has grossly compromised the State enterprises which are ever in the red and perpetually bleeding the fiscus. These enterprises which must support Government in reviving the economy are rather a burden on the fiscus.
The way to go is to revive the Parastatals Commission which must be given the mandate to appoint boards of all parastatals in consultation with the President or relevant parliamentary portfolio committees. This arrangement will curb undue interference from the ministers as well as corruption.
Online Reporter