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. – ZimLive
Source: Thezimbabwemail
