Administrator to run ailing airline

Zimbabwe has appointed an independent administrator to run its loss-making national airline to try to revive its fortunes. A report on the EWN site notes that Air Zimbabwe has been struggling with a $300m debt, much of it to foreign creditors. Only three of its planes are operational which has forced it to abandon international routes. Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi appointed Harare-based chartered accountant Reggie Saruchera as administrator with powers to ‘raise money in any way without the authority of shareholders for the purposes of the reconstruction’. Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube on Friday said government is hoping to sell stakes in Air Zimbabwe and other state-owned companies under a package of reforms. However, the airline has failed to attract private investors in the past.

Full report on the EWN site

Meanwhile, former President Robert Mugabe’s son-in-law is wanted by police on allegations he detained a senior airline company official against her will. The Standard reports that Simba Chikore allegedly had Zimbabwe Airways legal head Bertha Zakeyo detained for two hours at the airline’s offices in June. This after he accused her of holding unsanctioned meetings and leaking company secrets. One of Chikore’s alleged accomplices, security guard Simbarashe Mutimbe has appeared in the Harare Magistrate’s Court where he was granted bail of $30. He is accused of unlawfully depriving Zakeyo ‘of her freedom'. Prosecutors say Chikore who is married to Mugabe’s daughter Bona ‘is still at large’.

Full report in The Standard