Antony Chawagarira
HARARE – Engineer Cletus Nyachowe has been appointed Group Chief Executive Officer of the newly restructured ZESA (Private) Limited, as the power utility consolidates its operations under a single, vertically integrated entity.
The appointment, effective from 1 May 2026, comes after the restructuring and consolidation of the ZESA Group, which brings together ZESA Holdings (Private) Limited, Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) and Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company (ZETDC).
The restructuring is being undertaken pursuant to General Notice 1193 of 2026, with the new ZESA (Private) Limited operating as a single, vertically integrated electricity utility.
The company has also appointed an 11-member Board of Directors, effective from 1 April 2026, to provide oversight as the restructured utility works towards the Government’s goal of total electrification and universal access to electricity by 2030.
Albert Joel Nduna has been appointed Board Chairperson, while Ntokozo Mkandla is the Vice Chairperson.
Other board members are Tawanda Ernest Denhere, Matilda Nyathi, Sugar Chagonda, Cassius Gambinga, Theresa Muchinguri, Engineer Nomusa Jowah and Nyasha Hazel Muvirimbi.
Engineer Nyachowe sits on the board as Group Chief Executive Officer, while Engineer Ian Albert Obenholzer serves as Chief Operating Officer.
Eng Nyachowe is a veteran ZESA executive who joined the organisation in 1988 and has held several senior technical and executive positions.
He previously served as Managing Director of Powertel Communications, where he led the establishment and development of Zimbabwe’s first data-focused telecommunications service provider.
He later served as Executive Director – Group Operations at ZESA Holdings, providing executive leadership and operational coordination across the Group’s businesses, before serving as Executive Director – International Business.
He has also been responsible for the country’s national electricity transmission infrastructure and has undertaken consultancy work across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region in renewable energy and regional electricity market development.
Prior to his substantive appointment, Eng Nyachowe served as ZESA’s acting Group Chief Executive Officer during the institution’s transition and restructuring.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Zimbabwe. He is also a Registered Professional Engineer and a Fellow of the Zimbabwe Institution of Engineers.
Beyond his technical and executive experience, Eng Nyachowe has served as a non-executive director on boards in the banking, insurance and asset management sectors, as well as at universities and regulatory institutions.
The new board and executive leadership are expected to drive the strategic and operational transformation of ZESA (Private) Limited in line with Vision 2030, which seeks to transform Zimbabwe into an empowered and prosperous upper-middle-income economy.
The ZESA Board said the new leadership would play a central role in advancing the Government’s aspiration of total electrification and universal access to electricity by 2030.
The appointments were announced through public notices issued by ZESA (Private) Limited by order of the Board, with the Group Legal Advisor and Corporate Secretary signing on behalf of the utility.
