Interim board appointed to run Air Zimbabwe
After several years of a negative budget year, Air Zimbabwe was placed under restructuring on 5 October 2018. The Zimbabwean national airline emerged from the restructuring on 30 June with a new business model. All it needed was a new board and management team to implement its restructuring plan.
Andrew Bvumbe (chairman), Pfungwa Kunaka, Givemore Chidzidzi, Dr Michael Musanzwika, Nyikadzino Chifema and Kingstone Magaya (ex-officio interim board member) are the members of the interim Air Zimbabwe board. They were appointed to the board on Thursday 8 July by the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development, Felix Mhona.
The team replaces the interim directors, whose term of office ended on 30 June. Audit firm Grant Thornton, led by Reggie Francis Saruchera, had been administering the Zimbabwean national company since it went into restructuring on 4 October 2018. The task of the replacement team is, among other things, the implementation of the company's restructuring plan, which they produced.
"We are confident that through the implementation of good governance and accountability principles, including regular reporting and feedback mechanisms on critical issues, the airline will thrive," Minister Mhona assured.
Air Zimbabwe came out of interim administration on 30 June after the government agreed to pay its entire debt, valued at US$379 million. This is yet another financial infusion to the state-owned carrier. It has been operating at a loss for several years and owes its survival to public finances. "In a difficult financial climate and operational challenges, Air Zimbabwe remains the national flagship, and the government will do everything in its power to maintain the operations and viability of the airline," the minister said last Thursday.
