Government last week dissolved Air Zimbabwe management
board and appointed Grant Thornton Chartered Accountants as caretaker
administrators for the country’s airline, NewsDay has established.
Transport and Infrastructural Development minister Joram
Gumbo confirmed yesterday that the disbandment of the board and the appointment
of a caretaker was meant to safeguard the airline’s assets.
“The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, by their
letter dated July 25, 2018 notified my office that it was not feasible to
extend the protection under the Finance Act,” Gumbo said.
“Instead, the Ministry of Finance recommended to the Office
of the President and Cabinet that Air Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd and Air Zimbabwe
Holdings (Pvt) Ltd should be placed under the reconstruction of State Indebted
Insolvent Companies Act Chapter (24:27).The recommendation was approved and
forwarded to the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.”
Initially, government issued a Government Gazette dated
July 27 where it had appointed three Air Zimbabwe officials as interim
administrators.
The Ministry of Transport then sought the services of Grant
Thornton through the approval of the Procurement Authority of Zimbabwe.
Gumbo said the appointment of an administrator is provided
“in the General Notice number 610 of 2018 with the duties, functions and
control of the board in the companies now vested in the administrator”.
Management for Air Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd and Air Zimbabwe
holdings (Pvt) Ltd shall remain in place, but answerable to Grant Thornton
Chartered Accountants, who in turn will report to the permanent secretary.
The permanent secretary will be calling Air Zimbabwe
management and the regulatory authority management teams to a meeting with the
administrator at a convenient time.
The sacked board comprised of chairperson Chipo Dyanda,
deputised by Pathias Chironga and members included Pascal Changunda, Lyton
Shumba, Fulton Mangwanya and Dacl-Ray Rambanapasi.
In May this year, Air Zimbabwe’s acting chief executive
officer Joseph Makonise requested from the Ministry of Finance an extension of
the protection granted on the parastatal’s assets from July this year to 2020.
To that, the Ministry of Finance responded by stating that
it was not feasible to extend protection of Air Zimbabwe assets under the
Finance Act due to the airline’s failure to restructure, its non-adherence to a
turnaround strategy and its progression from technical insolvency to factual
insolvency.
Government announced last month that it was in the process
of merging Air Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe Airways so that they both fall under one
board. Newsday
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