THE National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (Noczim) this month embarked on a restructuring exercise which will result in 106 out of 379 employees being retrenched.
Energy minister Elton Mangoma told journalists in the capital yesterday that the restructuring followed cabinet’s approval for the re-organisation of Noczim into two firms, one for trading and the other for infrastructure.
“Negotiations on the retrenchments are going on and expected to be resolved by Monday,” Mangoma said.
The restructuring of Noczim into two companies was done on December 31 last year and the firms started operating on January 1.
The companies have the same board members, Justin Mupamhanga (the Energy ministry permanent secretary), Morgan Mudzinganyama (Director Petroleum) and Ndomupei Chikonye (Director Power).
“The two new companies are being given a fresh start and a break from mismanagement and fraudulent activities at Noczim. Substantive boards will be put in place as soon as consultations are completed,” Mangoma said.
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He said his ministry was working on building confidence in fuel suppliers to store their petroleum products in Zimbabwe.
“The country has over 500 000 000 litres of storage facilities which are more than double that of Beira,” he said.
He said a forensic audit conducted by Ernst & Young on Noczim revealed that its management had committed fraud, taken third party stocks, misrepresented facts regarding amounts due to Zimra, failed to account for strategic reserves and debt redemption levies.
Mangoma exonerated himself from the recent corruption linked to fuel shortages and at Zesa Holdings saying: “I am particularly allergic to corruption, greed and patronage. Zesa will be purified. Noczim will be sorted out. The Rural Electrification Agency (Rea) will be distilled. The guilty are afraid and no amount of noise and vilification by corrupt forces will stand in my way in pursuit of excellence and delivery for real change.”
He said a senior official at Rea had unprocedurally authorised three members of management to get US$656 000 as housing loans on 3% interest over 17 years.
“This amount was not part of the budget and therefore should not have been paid. This is a corrupt practice,” said Mangoma.
He said Zesa needed viable tariffs to not only stabilise the current power supply, but to invest in new capacity.
“Zesa has come up with a proposed tariff which I have put on hold whilst the necessary consultative processes are being carried out,” he said.
There has been no investment in new power generation since the commissioning of Hwange Power Station units 5 and 6 in 1984.
There has also been no meaningful repairs and maintenance to both the generation plant and transmission.
