ZIMBABWE United Passenger Company (Zupco) chief executive officer, George Chigora, says leakages are bleeding the parastatal with some depots not generating enough to sustain daily operations.
Chigora, an accountant and a former Zupco board member, was in June thrust at the helm of the public transporter that is battling to regain its former glory due to perennial financial losses and mismanagement.
The public transporter is saddled with huge debts with workers owed varying amounts in salaries.
In an interview with NewsDay, Chigora confirmed that some depots are underperforming, burdening the already financially squeezed parastatal.
‘‘I am going down to each depot where I am telling workers that they must generate the money to pay themselves. My message is clear, they must account for the diesel for the bus and the target must be met,” he said.
Chigora recently came face-to-face with the leakages at Zupco when he inspected a rural bus in Hurungwe at Magunje growth point and discovered that a number of passengers had no tickets.
‘‘Such cash leakages are rampant. We need to make efforts to stop it to remain financially viable,” he said.
“The suspect is going to a disciplinary hearing on the case and we are following procedures. I am strict on it as we need accountability for our actions to the public.’’
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According to Chigora, the majority of the workers at Zupco are on contract.
“We can’t fire them because we don’t have terminal benefits to pay them, all we can do is to see if one is eligible for contract renewal through reviewing,” he said.
“At that point I will make strategic decisions if one is a key resource. This is a way of bringing down numbers.”
Chigora said his management had cleared part of the outstanding salaries.
“If our cash inflow continues to improve, I would like to clear all outstanding salaries sooner than later. These workers have provided services and deserve to be paid,’’ he said, adding that his priority was to see Zupco buses back on the road.
“My key strategy is to make sure that we have buses on the road that are maintained, serviced and provided with fuel. This is done with the right number of workers so that the wage bill is maintained for our profit margin. If we over employ, we are doomed,” he said.
Mutapa Investment Fund chief executive officer, John Mangudya, said they would help the parastatal in its turnaround efforts.
“The fund, board and Zupco management are addressing these challenges through a number of initiatives that include but are not limited to capitalisation of Zupco, improving corporate governance framework and addressing legacy debt obligations of the company,” said Mangudya in written responses.
