HARARE
–
State‐owned
power
utility,
ZESA
Holdings
has
announced
a
raft
of
interim
leadership
changes
following
the
sudden
death
of
its
executive
chairman,
Sydney
Gata.
The
internal
circular,
seen
by
ZimLive,
said
that
vice
chairman
Albert
Joel
Nduna
will
step
in
as
interim
board
chairman,
while
Cletus
Nyachowe
–
a
veteran
engineer
who
first
joined
ZESA
in
1988
–
has
been
named
acting
group
chief
executive
officer.
ZESA
Holdings,
which
is
now
one
of
the
companies
under
the
Mutapa
Investment
Fund,
has
set
in
motion
a
rebundling
process
at
the
end
of
which
the
post
of
executive
chairman
will
be
abolished.
The
company
will
now
have
a
chairman
and
a
CEO.
Engineer
Nyachowe,
an
electrical
engineer
with
an
MBA
from
the
University
of
Zimbabwe,
assumes
the
executive
role
as
interim
CEO
with
effect
from
July
17.
His
extensive
ZESA
career
includes
leadership
of
Powertel
Communications—the
country’s
first
data-focused
telecoms
provider—and
senior
operational
roles
spanning
grid
asset
management,
group
operations,
and
international
business
development.
He
has
also
consulted
on
major
renewable
energy
projects
across
the
SADC
region
and
serves
as
a
non-executive
director
on
the
Procurement
Regulatory
Authority
of
Zimbabwe’s
board.
Nduna,
a
veteran
business
executive
with
over
35
years’
service
at
senior
management
level,
currently
chairs
the
Insurance
and
Pensions
Commission
and
sits
on
multiple
boards
as
a
non-executive
director.
In
a
message
to
staff,
executive
director
for
human
capital
Fortune
Sambo
extended
best
wishes
to
both
appointees
as
they
guide
ZESA
through
the
transition.
“Nduna
and
Engineer
Nyachowe
bring
decades
of
corporate
and
sectoral
expertise,”
said
Sambo.
“Their
leadership
will
be
invaluable
as
we
continue
to
advance
the
government’s
aspirations
of
achieving
total
electrification
and
universal
access
to
power
and
data
by
2030.”
Gata’s
leadership
had
overseen
critical
expansions
in
generation
capacity,
although
power
outages
persist.
Nyachowe
and
Nduna
have
been
tasked
with
maintaining
momentum
on
key
projects,
including
ongoing
upgrades
to
national
transmission
infrastructure
and
public–private
partnership
initiatives.
A
search
for
permanent
successors
is
understood
to
be
underway,
with
further
announcements
expected
in
the
coming
months.