Tichaona Mudzingwa, the Deputy Minister of Transport, Communications and Infrastructure Development said both the board and management must shoulder the blame for NRZ’s demise.
Nyikayaramba, the controversial commander of 3 Brigade has been accused by Mudzingwa of clinging to the top post on the NRZ board despite its term of office having expired three years ago.
Government in June said a new board would be appointed soon to replace Nyikayaramba’s board. But Nyakayaramba has said he has not participated in NRZ activities since his term expired in 2008.
Another former soldier, Retired Air Force of Zimbabwe Air Commodore Mike Karakadzai is running the parastatal.
Mudzingwa specifically referred to the electrified Gweru-Harare railway line, which has been vandalised.
“The board and management could have averted the massive damage that has left the line completely destroyed.
“They could have requested for military assistance for deployment of troops to secure the line, after all it is less than 300km,” said Mudzingwa adding that the current NRZ board should be dismissed.
“This is what we are discussing and we hope to reach an agreement soon as a ministry.
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“When the lifespan of a board expires they are changed altogether or alternatively, instructed to run the institution for six months in the interim, we are looking for suitable candidates.”
There have been numerous reports of maladministration and incompetence at the NRZ, once regarded as one of the region’s biggest railway transport companies.
Mudzingwa said the new board, once appointed, will have to work hard to turn around NRZ’s fortunes.
He said government expected the rail transporter to move nine million tonnes of cargo annually up from between 6,4 million and 6,5 million tonnes it is currently moving.
NRZ public relations manager Fanuel Masikati said management and the board were currently revamping the rail transporter.
Masikati said the NRZ had beefed up security on the railway network with the assistance of the police and other security institutions.
“We are currently engaged in a study to introduce an alternative cabling system that is vandal-proof,” he said.
“We are rehabilitating the entire railway infrastructure, not only in terms of the telecommunications system but the track itself,” he said, adding that the NRZ has acquired 12 000 tonnes of rail from China to facilitate the process.
iNDIGENISATION FACTOR…
Tichaona Mudzingwa, however says efforts to rehabilitate the loss-making National Railways of Zimbabwe were being hampered by the uncertainty caused by the indigenisation laws.
He said there were investors from Algeria, South Africa, India, Canada and Australia that had expressed interest in revamping the country’s railway network but were put off by inconsistent government policies.
“It is quite saddening,” Mudzingwa said. “One can easily tell from the questions that they (investors) ask that they are worried about the security of their investments and the implications of indigenisation.”
NRZ’s long struggle to secure rolling stock
NRZ has over the years battled a chronic shortage of locomotives with just 65 out of 185 said to be functional. About 3 400 out of 8 300 wagons are also said to be serviceable.
Government has so far been rehabilitating 10 wagons per month at a cost of US$500 each while a single locomotive has been serviced at a cost of US$300 every three months.
But the NRZ has benefited from the government bankrolled modernisation of signaling equipment to make use of global positioning system (GPS) technology.
The system currently operational on less than 500km of the rail network, is being used on the Gweru-Bulawayo and Bulawayo-Hwange routes.
Paul Mavima, the principal director in Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara’s office said the revival of NRZ was crucial if Zimbabwe’s economy was to be resuscitated.
“Rail transport costs are less than half the cost of road transportation so the railway system is certainly of strategic importance to the country,” said Mavima, whose office is tasked with spearheading private-public partnerships (PPPs.)
