At least 40 applicants are eyeing the post of general manager at struggling National Railways of Zimbabwe, an official said today.
The new appointee is likely to be announced next month to replace acting general manager Lewis Mukwada who has been in acting capacity since the death of Mike Karakadzai in a car crash in August, 2013.
NRZ board chairman Alvord Mabena said shortlisted candidates from the ‘huge pile’ will be presented at a board meeting at the end of this month ahead of interviews early February.
“Dates for interviews will be announced in February,” said Mabena, himself a former general manager of the parastatal.
He was appointed in June last year and was tasked with reviving the company.
The NRZ is in dire need of fleet renewal, with most of its wagons being more than 40 years old and having gone beyond their lifespan.
The parastatal moved 3.6 million tonnes of goods in 2013, against a target of six million tonnes. In 1998, the NRZ moved 18 million tonnes.
A funding proposal prepared by Mukwadi last year showed that the company was seeking an excess of $2 billion to fully recapitalise.
Its immediate salvation, however, is expected to come from a proposed $750 million loan from the Development Bank of South Africa. Government officials have on several occasions indicated that the deal was almost complete.
The perennial loss-maker, which is saddled with a $144 million debt raked up since dollarisation in 2009, registered a $17 million deficit in the first five months of 2014, generating $44 million revenue against $61 million expenditure.
NRZ superintends about 3 000 kilometres of rail, with about a tenth of that under speed restriction due to the poor state of the infrastructure, while the electrified Gweru-Harare link has been decommissioned after vandalism and cable theft.- The Source
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