PAC orders communications PS to compile TAZARA performance report

PAC orders communications PS to compile TAZARA performance report
Written by Nicholas Mwale
Thursday, November 13, 2008 6:09:10 PM

THE Parliamentary Accounts Committee (PAC) has ordered communications and transport permanent secretary Eustern Mambwe to compile and present a statistical report on the current performance of Tanzania Zambia Railways (TAZARA) to the committee.
And Mambwe said TAZARA has recorded tremendous improvement in its operations over the past two months due to the change of management.

Appearing before the committee chaired by Luena member of parliament Charles Milupi on Tuesday, Mambwe, who admitted that there was gross financial mismanagement at TAZARA, said things had changed in a short period of time due to the change of management.

He said the company, among other things, managed to procure vehicles and paid its employees all their outstanding salary areas.

Mambwe however had difficulties to explain to committee members who wanted to know how the company managed to improve its operations in a short time when he was the controlling officer even during the time things were going wrong at TAZARA.

“That is a difficult question. It’s a bit difficult for me to answer that question because I have been a controlling officer for just over a year now. Before I became a controlling officer, I was out of the country,” said Mambwe.

But Milupi wondered why Mambwe attributed the improvements at TAZARA to new management when the acting managing director Henry Chipewo was board member before he was appointed to act as managing director.

At this point, Mbabala member of parliament Emmanuel Hachipuka ordered Mambwe to prepare a statistical report on the current performance of TAZARA to properly understand the future of the company.

And responding to queries on the reported positive record, Chipewo said the company managed to improve its operations within two months because the new management had started putting in place strategic plans that were not there before.

Chipewo said he found TAZARA operating below the break-even point but that was now above that level.

He said his aim was to reach returns of up to $96 million per annum by June next year.

Chipewo said losses of finances at TAZARA were due to lack of financial strategies, which the new management had started re-engineering.

But when asked about the company’s monthly accounts reports, Chipewo could not recall the exact month when the reports where last produced.

Committee members however wondered how the company would have arrived at $96 million by next year when management had not yet looked at the previous book of accounts.

In response, Chipewo said he was still new in the office and was in the process of understanding the company’s operating system.