ENERGY and Power minister Elton Mangoma has for the second time extended the term of office of the Zesa board to end-of-year after it expired in September despite pressure from stakeholders to dissolve the board for poor service delivery. REPORT BY GAMMA MUDARIKIRI OWN CORRESPONDENT
The term of office for the Zesa board first expired in June this year, but was extended to September, followed by another extension to December.
Mangoma confirmed the development, but declined to give reasons as to why he had for the second time extended the term of office of the existing board.
“I have extended the term of office for the Zesa board to end of December, but for certain reasons I cannot tell you why,” Mangoma said. The current board is chaired by former Zesa chief executive Simbarashe Mangwengwende and other members include lawyer Francis Chirimuuta and Andrew Nyambayo.
The extension of the board’s term of office came at a time when there was mounting pressure from the Zimbabwe Energy Workers’ Union for its dissolution.
The bleeding parastatal has also been caught in a bitter labour dispute with its employees over unpaid salaries and allowances, while management and the board were accused of awarding themselves hefty increases in allowances. The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries early this year also made calls for the Zesa board to be dissolved, blaming it for failing to collect $500 million arrears from consumers. The power utility, however, recently began rolling out the pre-paid meter system that is expected to boost its finances.
