Chirwa gives himself 3 years to rebuild ZR

Chirwa gives himself 3 years to rebuild ZR
By Ernest Chanda
Fri 16 Nov. 2012, 13:00 CAT

PROFESSOR Clive Chirwa says his love for Zambia and patriotism have compelled him to come and help rebuild Zambia Railways. President Michael Sata yesterday announced the appointment of Prof Chirwa as chief executive officer of Zambia Railways.

"It gives me an opportunity now to offer my services to my country in a tangible manner whereby a product will be produced at the end of the day," he said in an interview.

"I'm sacrificing quite a lot to come back to my country and this is my patriotism which I want to show in order to build this thing up to the end. You can understand that I'm losing a lot in terms of overall revenue and in terms of my style of life, to come back and help my country."

Asked what vision he had for the company, Prof Chirwa responded: "We will From front page reconstruct the whole Zambia Railways from scratch because there's nothing there left. So, it's something which we are starting from ground stage to very highly technological railway which you're going to see in three years' time."

Asked if he would persuade other Zambians in the Diaspora to emulate his patriotism, Prof Chirwa answered in the affirmative.

"I'm going on what you call a recruitment spree in the Diaspora to actually bring some of the Zambians who are highly technologically advanced; not only in engineering but in all the fields, to come and help rebuild Zambia. We are going to create job opportunities," said Prof Chirwa.

"In the next three months, we'll start the recruitment, perhaps the biggest in Zambia, to start rebuilding the railway infrastructure which we have completely lost. I would like to say to the nation, 'thank you for bringing back your son'. And I would like to thank His Excellency the President for this opportunity to ring me and offer me this job. He has seen in me someone who can change the railway system in the country. On that account, I wish him well so that he can see what we can produce out of the railway system."

According to a statement released yesterday by President Sata's special assistant for press and public relations George Chellah, Prof Chirwa's five-year appointment is with immediate effect.

Prof Chirwa replaces Knox Karima, who has been retired in national interest.

"I have deemed it appropriate and opportune to appoint you Chief Executive Officer of Zambia Railways Limited. Your appointment is with immediate effect for a period of five (5) years," stated President Sata.

"Millions of tonnes of both our imports and exports which should have been transported by rail were diverted to road transport, in the process exerting a very severe toll on our roads. The cost to the economy has been and is unsustainable,"

President Sata expressed confidence in Prof Chirwa's ability to transform the country's railway infrastructure.

"Government has taken a positive move in this direction by allocating K640 billion for the rehabilitation of the rail line," stated President Sata.

Meanwhile, the head of state has given Karima a one-month notice in which to facilitate a smooth hand-over to the incoming chief executive officer.

Prof Chirwa is a lecturer at Bolton University in the UK and distinguished Professor of Automotive and Aerospace Structures and chairman of Automotive and Aerospace Engineering.

He is also editor-in-chief of The International Journal of Crashworthiness and adviser to UK, Australia, USA, EU, Japan, Canada and Singapore governments on trans-safety, among many other internationally recognised credentials and achievements.