Troubled Air Zimbabwe intensified its search for a substantive chief executive officer after interviewing five shortlisted candidates on Wednesday.
BY BUSINESS REPORTER
The interviews were conducted by the board and a human resources consultancy firm, Industrial Psychology Consultants. The interviews were done at Crowne Plaza Hotel in Harare.
NewsDay reported on Tuesday that acting CEO Edmund Makona, former acting CEO Oscar Madombwe, one Sibanda and a Kunaka participated in the company’s psychometric tests. The quartet attended Wednesday’s interview sessions.
No comment could be obtained from AirZim board chairperson Chipo Dyanda with the airline saying she has not been in her office since Monday.
The interviews were a follow up to the psychometric tests undertaken by the candidates on Saturday signalling that Air Zim was making frantic efforts to stabilise the airline.
The airline has been operating without a substantive CEO since January 2011 after Peter Chikumba decided not to renew his contract, becoming the first head of a parastatal to take that route.
Makona has been the acting CEO since 2013. Before then, Innocent Mavhunga had been heading the organisation in an acting capacity since 2011 before he was shipped out in 2013.
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In April, AirZim gave interested candidates up to May 6 to submit applications. The airline said it was looking for a visionary strategist and leader “who demonstrates a professional and flexible leadership style”.
The candidate, it said, should be able to develop, implement and evaluate turnaround strategies including managing workloads and resources and align organisational strategies, with stakeholder groups which include government and government institutions.
The ideal candidate should exhibit a good understanding of the airline industry, business operations, processes and systems, it said.
Once one of the best airlines in the region, the national carrier has fallen down the pecking order, weighed down by gross mismanagement with a former minister describing it as a “museum of mismanagement”.
The new CEO will have to stop financial bleeding of the airline amid revelations it was making monthly losses as it was generating an estimated revenue of $2,65 million against operational expenditure of $5,94 million, according to a report by the portfolio committee on Transport and Infrastructure Development. The report was presented in Parliament last week.
