NEWLY-appointed Energy and Power Development Minister
Fortune Chasi yesterday took his oath of office before President Mnangagwa at
State House and vowed to end fuel hoarding and other corrupt practices.
The minister said he would also keep an eye on critical
parastastals in the fuel and power generation industry to ensure high standards
of corporate governance.
The minister said he will empower the Zimbabwe Energy
Regulatory Authority (ZERA) to take full charge of the sector and tightly
monitor activities to restore order in the energy sector.
This follows the recent unearthing of a hoarding case in
which a service station in Chinhoyi reportedly sold 10 000 litres of fuel to an
individual despite a long winding queue of desperate motorists.
Minister Chasi replaced Cde Joram Gumbo, who is now
Presidential Affairs Minister responsible for Implementation and Monitoring.
Minister Chasi said his first meeting with the fuel
industry will discuss acts of misconduct by some fuel attendants and find ways
of rectifying the problem.
“This afternoon I am meeting the fuel industry and get
feedback from them on the fuel price adjustment.
“I would also like to speak to them about the misconduct
that is going on at service stations, some of them going beyond the conditions
of their licences regarding how much they can sell to a single customer.
“There are instances where 10 000 litres of fuel is sold to
one person when there is a long queue and everybody else does not get fuel.
“There is a service station that has done so in Chinhoyi
and I have asked ZERA to investigate that development so that we take remedial
measures,” he said.
Minister Chasi said ZERA should be adequately empowered to
deal with challenges in the fuel sector.
Minister Chasi said he will ensure ZERA take full charge of
sector to do away with hoarding of fuel and other corrupt activities dogging
the fuel industry.
He said fuel attendants should be called to order and stop
illegal dealings that find diesel and petrol on the black market.
“Beyond that I would like ZERA to take charge of the
industry in accordance with what their founding statute requires them to do. We
intend to empower them in terms of their monitoring functions. We want to
ensure there is no favouritism in the purchase of fuel.
“There is misconduct by fuel attendants that that must
end,” he said. Minister Chasi said he will ensure that parastatal boards
are properly constituted with members of high integrity with the zeal to
improve service delivery.
“We must be very strong on the governance of parastatals
involved in the fuel and power generation. I am going to have an eagle’s eye on
ZESA because it is a critical parastatal. I want to ensure that all the boards
are sufficiently skilled. They should have men and women of integrity.
“I would like to ensure that procurement is done properly
and ZERA should take charge of the industry to ensure transparency,” he said.
Herald
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