NRZ makes senior appointments

Bulawayo (New Ziana)-The National Railways of Zimbabwe has with immediate effect made two appointments to the posts of Chief Operations Officer (COO) and Chief Finance Officer (CFO).

Public Affairs and Stakeholders manager, Andrew Kunambura said Ainah Dube-Kaguru has been appointed substantive COO while Patrick Mwashita is the new CFO.

“Dube -Kaguru is a highly experienced NRZ manager, having joined the organisation in 1994 as a Trainee Traffic Officer She was later appointed Planning officer and also acted as Senior Planning Officer before moving to Real Estates. In 2013,she returned to NRZ core business of operations after being appointed Manager Southern Area.

“In October 2022,she was appointed acting COO until her substantive appointment with effect from July 1 2023,”said Kunambura in a statement.

Dube-Kaguru holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Rural and Urban Planning from University of Zimbabwe.

“She also holds a Master of Business Administration in Strategic Management from the National University of Science and Technology. In addition to that, she holds a Graduate Diploma in Marketing Management from the Institute of Marketing Management of South Africa and a Diploma in Real Estate Institute of Zimbabwe,” said Kunambura.

He said Mwashita is a seasoned finance executive who was running a consultancy firm before joining NRZ in July 2023.

“Mwashita has more than 20 years’ experience working in finance, both in private and public sectors. His career started in the private sector in 1999 and later joined the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority(ZIMRA) where he worked as a Regional Accountant and Finance Manager before rising to the position of Director Finance and Administration until September 2022 which he set up his own consultancy company,” said Kunambura.

Mwashita holds a degree and a Master`s degree in Finance. He also has a number of professional qualifications including Chartered Institute of Management Accountants(CIMA).

He is a Certified Public Accountant(CPA) and is registered with the Public Accountants and Auditors Board(PAAB). He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Zimbabwe(ICAZ).\

A combination of vandalised infrastructure and underfunding have crippled the NRZ operations in recent years, resulting in business resorting to expensive road freight services.

The NRZ is working to increase its freight capacity back to volumes of 18 million tonnes a year achieved in the 1990s.

At the moment, the NRZ is moving around three million tonnes a year, a far cry from the huge volumes it carried in its heyday.

As part of efforts to turn around its fortunes, the parastatal has signed a number of investment deals with foreign investors including with Turkish firm Yapi Merkezi which is awaiting the report on a diligence exercise which was conducted.

New Ziana