Chirwa
Zambia Railways Managing Director Clive Chirwa has dismissed reports that he has been fired.
In an interview, Professor Chirwa laughed off rumours circulating on social media that he has been fired and replaced with Transport Permanent Secretary Dr. Muyenga Atanga.
“It’s all nonsense. It is not true. I spoke with the Principal a while ago and I was assured that my job was safe. I have heard the rumours but it is not true,” Professor Chirwa said by phone.
“I remain CEO of the company,” he said.
Professor Chirwa said he is happy that his job is safe and that he is interested in continuing with his vision of turning around the railway firm.
Meanwhile, Transparency International Zambia has demanded that Zambia Railways Managing Director Clive Chirwa steps aside to pave way for investigations.
[pullquote]“It’s all nonsense. It is not true. I spoke with the Principal a while ago and I was assured that my job was safe. I have heard the rumours but it is not true,” Professor Chirwa said by phone[/pullquote].
Meanwhile, TIZ President Lee Habasonda says it has received the news of the happenings at Zambia Railways with utter disgust.
Mr. Habasonda says it will not be fair that Professor Chirwa continues in office when he is at the centre of the allegations of impropriety raised by the dissolved Board.
He further demanded that President Sata as the appointing authority should act expeditiously on this matter and restore confidence in the programme of revamping Zambia Railways Ltd.
Mr. Habasonda said it is also important that President Sata learns lessons from this episode by not appointments Chief Executives of Parastatals through State House.
‘It is evident in the case of Prof Clive Chirwa that he feels that he is only answerable to the appointing authority who in this case is not the Board but the Republican President. President Sata should in part, shoulder the blame for the mess obtaining at Zambia Railways,” Mr. Habasonda said.
He said the accusations against Prof. Chirwa and his counter accusations against the dissolved Board are unacceptable.
Mr. Habasonda said the accusations and counter accusations bear the hallmark of a breakdown in corporate governance and a sad focus on personal benefits rather than public interest.
He said his organisation is on record having condemned the abuse of authority and resources during the period of the concession run by the Railway Systems of Zambia.
The TIZ President said it seems that this trend of using public assets for personal aggrandisement continues unabated.
Mr. Habasonda says TIZ demands a full investigation of all allegations of corruption including abuse of authority, conducted and complemented with a forensic audit whose results should be made public.
“TIZ wishes to emphasise that the $120million Eurobond, which is earmarked for ZRL, stands at a risk if the accusations either way are proved right. This is because the $120million is not a grant but a loan which will undoubtedly be recovered from all citizens and residents in Zambia who pay tax. These funds should therefore not be subjected to risky investments and unsustainable lavish spending- these funds should be employed in reviving the railway systems.”
“We deplore what seems to be a calculated move of turning Zambia Railways Limited into a cash cow serving the interests of a few people. It is preposterous for Prof. Chirwa can demand for such a colossal amount of salary as KR248 000 a month in a country where others live on approximately one dollar per day,” he said.
“We also find it outrageous that the Board had 28 board meetings from January to March in 2013 spending over KR400 000 which is an allocation for Board meetings for one year. It is clear that in the final analysis it is the poor people who will bear the brunt of such wanton greed and disregard for good corporate governance.”
He added, “We challenge other public sector Boards to exercise their fiduciary responsibilities with the utmost care and ensure prudence in the utilisation of public funds.”
Shut up you greedy pig. You didn’t return to Zambia to help, you came for a get rich quick scheme.
Ba Sata needs his mouth checked literally, bad teeth can poison blood and cloud judgement. His wife should know better, she’s a medical doctor. When someone starts to act erratically check their health.
The appointing authority is right. The board going by some of the things they said are wrong. They said Prof Chirwa refused to engage a consultant to do a feasibility study and instead use a program he advised before the board was formed. I find that to be excellent on the part of Prof Chirwa. You do not accept to go run a company like ZRL without knowing exactly what is wrong and how to turn the company around. What feasibility study do you need to carryout when railway sleepers are rotten, rails are worn out buildings are falling apart and there are companies yearning for a better mode of transport than the road. How do you set up a board and the first thing they do is engage a consultant for a feasibility study? It means they have no clue about their job.
@Peter, thank you…. Finally someone looking at this situation from a technical perspective unlike the majority of our colleagues here who feel the sacrifice the man made is not enough and don’t care much for the bigger picture but merely the amount he’s getting. Which ain’t sh!t if you ask me.
Seleni tubombe ko and condemn later. Give the man a chance, he got this.
The President is right. If we had to carry out a feasibility study on constructing Mongu-Kalabo road, Matumbo- Chama road, Creation of so many districts and so many other roads it would take forever for our country to develop. Here in Africa we are very fortunate because the countries who have gone ahead of us have done a lot of feasibility studies for us we just need clever minds to implement programs done elsewhere but suitable to our environment. I am canvassing for advisory-ship somewhere because I know our world is shaped by thinkers and there are educated people who think too small for titles they carry.
@peter. peter, peter…why are you shotting all over the place, the point is the text book prof. chirwa salary and other expenses are unsustainable for ZRL.. that eurobond is nkongole, the government is poor and zambia railways itself is on a death bed, the company is not making any money!!!!.. so donot give some text explanation
@Peter, stop the lies please. A feasibility study is needed for every construction project. I think you are not alright upstairs. There was a feasibility study on the construction of the Mongu-Kalabo causeway. We are lucky that the causeway project has nothing to do with the PF government otherwise the people of Western Province would have been greatly disappointed.
@ ndobo, Peter is not only wrong to offer a “textbook explanation” but even has the textbook wrong. He says there is no need for a feasibility study because we already know what is wrong with ZRL. Perhaps, but that is not the same as saying we know how to fix it. It is also not the same as saying that it is “feasible” for Zambia to spend …how much…? on designer high speed services, monorails, underground stations, and other “nonsense” (to borrow Chirwa’s word) without looking at cost and whether users will afford such things. Even more incredibly, Peter says other countries have done feasibility studies as if the problems and issues they face are the same as Zambia. I respect engineers, but Peter is textbook proof of the key difference between skilled managers and technicians.
Asryt ! Bravo professor Chirwa.Only us who knows your true value believes in you even at this early stage.Lets go do this project.Forget the haters who are just looking at your pay check.Saasa and the rest of the arm chair critics can hang.The pay check is just a product of your sweat and hard-work. Great men don`t come cheaply.Aluta continua !
It’s scary how fast this platform is creating more POLOFESA Chirwas… I just can’t understand. But this saga is far from over. Next you’ll learn that the main reason this guy is saying he is prepared to fly back to the UK is actually to avoid us uncovering more of his skeletons. People in the diaspora who left Africa in the 80’s, 70’s or earlier still think of Zambians as the same docile (and perharps sleepy) people they left back then, but they get uncomfortable to learn how knowledgeable and in most cases much more knowledgeable we are in most spheres of life. Check Chirwa’s qualifications and all his references, but you must first take your high blood pressure pills!!
It’s scary how fast this platform is creating more POLOFESA Chirwas… I just can’t understand. But this saga is far from over. Next you’ll learn that the main reason this guy is saying he is prepared to fly back to the UK is actually to avoid us uncovering more of his skeletons. People in the diaspora who left Africa in the 80’s, 70’s or earlier still think of Zambians as the same docile (and perharps sleepy) people they left back then, but they get uncomfortable to learn how knowledgeable and in most cases much more knowledgeable we are in most spheres of life. Check Chirwa’s qualifications and all his references, but you must first take your high blood pressure pills…!!
come on guy…how can you undertake such a large project without a feasibility study? for example how do we know if prof. Chirwa’s underground rail will be commercially viable? At the end of the day ZR has to make money..we don’t just wake up with an idea and implement it straight away, these are public funds at stake, Chirwa will be back in the UK while we suffer to pay back before you know it.
@Peter, you are not a qualified time served Engineer. Period.
Peter Chingambo you speak like a Matero University graduate. A feasibility study is always necessary to establish a number opf options and then which option is the best economically, politically, socially and environmental-wise. This also provides for accountability purposes. You cant just come up with a single option like Prof Chirwa and say it is good and implementable. Most options are implementable but do we have a scientific way of ensuring it is the best given prevailing conditions. For instance he is talking about a railaway system which is better than that in RSA. Does he know why RSA has not upgraded theirs to japanese standards? Because feasibility studies say it is not appropriate. It is nice and advanced but not fit for our economy. Nowonder some people say he is a fake prof.
IWE PETER, DON’T BRING MA SHORTCUT YAKU ZAIRE KUNO KA – EVERY MAJOR PROJECT NEEDS A FEASIBILITY STUDY!
I totally agree with Nubian Princess’ remarks. As for you Ching’ambo, I bet you are lloyd, you were always licking clive’s boots commenting on this and that, are you one of his beneficiaries! As far as the eye can see, your super Clive is just a con man from Congo and we don’t need him in Zambia. He will exit Zambia thru a small hole, he lied about his CV and he didn’t renounce his british citizenship but is working as a Zambian. The fact that he carries two passports could land him in prison.
So do us a favour and shut up, at least for once you would have done a honorable thing.
PRESIDENT SATA OWES ZAMBIANS AN EXPLANATION ON HOW AND WHY HE APPOINTED CHIRWA INTO THIS POSITION:
1. Sata took oath office to respect, observe, uphold, advance and subject himself to the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia.
2. The current Constitution of the Republic of Zambia does not allow Zambian nationals to take up citizenship of another country and still keep their Zambian citizenship – unless they denounce the Zambian one.
3. Clive Chirwa is said to have both Zambian and British citizenship, which is a contravention of the Zambian constitution.
4. The question now is: Has Sata hired Chirwa as a Zambian or and Expartriate? If Sata recognises Chirwa as Zambian then he condones this man’s violation of our constitution, and by extension broken his oath of office…
You know you are Zambia when a foreigner who screams at twelve men chasing a ball gets paid more than a born and bred citizen who can create employment for millions of citizen. Shame 🙁
You know you are in Zambia when a foreigner who screams at twelve men chasing a ball gets paid more than a born and bred citizen who can create employment for millions of citizens. Sad.
@zebighe.
It’s the persons fault who allow themselves to be treated badly.
Prof. Chirwa should stand his ground and ignore these parasites.
@Peter Chigambo.
You are very correct in saying a feasibility study is not necessary at this point. Prof. Chirwa has seen hundreds of these documents and HIS EDUCATED GUESS wouldn’t be that far off.And if it was the shortfall would be covered by the saving in costs associated with the Feasibility study and Time value oc money.
Gentlemen you attend lectures to learn how to become like the very experts you praise.
The problem with the President is that you may never know what he promised Chirwa. All this is caused by Sata’s double standards!
I strongly agree with your statement that we do not have a clear picture of the president promised Chirwa. The president needs proper advisers on this matter.
The board complained about the US$560, 000 salary but how much were they going to pay for the feasibility study? One also begs to find out the experience of Prof Saasa and Mr Marck Chona in turning around companies leave alone a railway transport company. It is high time we as a country began to appreciate the role engineering, science, scientific management and technology can play to develop a country. I support the idea of giving Prof Chirwa a chance. He has not been tried before but the outspoken board members have been tried many times before. The board needs people like Robinson Mwansa who managed to turn around Zesco using young Zambian professionals and Zesco has kept improving from what it used to be. Zambia needs change managers its a new day!
Robinson Mwansa? Pleaseee! He left Zesco pregnant with overemployment. He will be remembered for his extravagance. The Human Resource section had 15 Human Resource Managers. The man bought himself 5 top end BMWs as his official vehicles. Robinson indeed transformed Zesco but it was for the worst!
Thanks Peter: I spent the whole day hammering the same point yesterday! Engineers are needed more now in our country than ever before if we are to hasten infrastructure development. This country has been managed by accountants and lawyers for too long with disastrous results. Give Prof Chirwa a chance. What we are interested in are the results. Kr140,000.00 is nothing for a professional Engineer.
This guy is so full of himself. Wouldn’t he rather lie low until the issues are resolved. He seems so desperate for a job in Zambia it makes me wonder if he even had a job at all in the UK. How does one go from aspiring to be president to accepting a relatively lowly CEO appointment.
He was even ready to accept a job as Deputy Minister under the previous administration of RB and Levy Mwanawasa . It is obvious that there is a scandal waiting to unfold at ZRL.
Ex- Zesco employee how many expatriates do you have now at Zesco? Isn’t a good sign of Zambian engineers managing a big engineering company without expatriates (save for new developments requiring huge sums of money)? Mech Engineer you are my man. Mr President we need more Professional Engineers with management skills to run the country. Lets find out the skills that China is using to grow the economy and lets employ the same. Feasibility studies and capacity building workshops are what we have been having for ages with very little to show. Chinese are building, roads, power plants, telecommunication infrastructures, stadiums and the rest and what they are using is what we need to focus on.
I hope what we are hearing is not TRUE. If it is then its not working well on our president, I feel that the president has forgten us that went tirelesly to put him in the Office and has sarounded him self with pipo that insulted us with him. We don’t matter any more. Even when we want to meet him or ministers they are busy or will take notes and that is it. It is such a sad thing hence problems are more than we expected. I am speaking from experience. Please Mr. Sata learn from what made President Bandas down fall. Viva P.F.
guys, firstly, i think you have this twisted. This guy worked as a well respect consultant on railways systems. how can you beat that? he makes a sacrifice to serve his country and this is the thanks he gets? Thats why if i were in his place i would never do that. i get paid more for my specialization here than i would at home without all the BS that goes with it. Please lets be fair. he is a patriot-more than i can say for most of us. We alwats bitch about how people must come home and serve Mother Zambia. The people that are stealing dont like to be questioned. They differ with people that want to institute positive change. Give the guy a chance, mwe bantu.
Spot on!!
right on ……
conceptualisation of zambian thinking is appauling.
Well said. pull him down syndrome is a deadly virus busy chewing Zambia’s developmental projects and the economy at large . Its so sad that this virus has now infected the youth too. Learn to appreciate your own and unite for a good cause. We all make mistakes , Prof Chirwa needs another chance .
Well, a patriotic Zambian? You must be on cool aid brother. Stay on where you are and just enjoy your money. We here could not allow a ripper to rip us off and let him off the hook so easily. Mr Chirwa has never run a company and to my mind, his being a professor or doctor nso n nso does not make him a good pragmatic CEO.
I hope what we are hearing is not TRUE. If it is then its not working well on our president, I feel that the president has forgten us that went tirelesly to put him in the Office and has sarounded him self with pipo that insulted us with him. We don’t matter any more. Even when we want to meet him or ministers they are busy or will take notes and that is it. It is such a sad thing hence problems are more than we expected. I am speaking from experience. Please Mr. Sata learn from what made President Bandas down fall. Viva P.F we will be there when needed.
Please let this Congolese go away! He has no corporate experience of any kind. Teaching at a former polytechnic that was converted into a university in 2004 does not prepare one for the corporate world. The man is a fraud. First he wanted to be President of Zambia when he had already acquired British citizenship. He has single sourced his katemba Cravel ltd to teach ‘Intellectual Property ‘ to ZRL employees. Only God knows for what purpose! He and his wife are the Directors of Cravel a company that has never done any business before.
This will come and haunt Sata when he leaves office if he does not act now. ‘Me i am just seeing’
I fell sorry for Peter Chinga’mbo for showing the worst ignorance how government operates.Feasibility studies gives you the extent of the damage done and come up with the costings of material needed for you to call for bidders.
You can not use a feasibility study which was done 4 years ago my brother because the damage has worsed.
Don’t play politics every time.If you are a PF cadre then i am sorry.Remember President Sata cancelled a workshop for orientation of Permanent Secretaries in Livingstone as misuse of funds,but look at renting a hotel at K72 Million per month without any authority from the board,then you justify this expenditure.
This is a calculated move for PF to pocket the Eurobond funds to enrich themselves.
Shame on PF and Shame on Clive,shame on Sata
but the question is how many feasibility studies have been done before and how did that help the company
Brother you are right. Sometimes it’s good to keep your cool and avoid exposing one’s ignorance. This country is what it is because of people like Peter.
let the PF govt come out clearly on this chirwa nosense. Chirwa is so arrogant and not good for a CEO? If left at ZRL the chap will mess up. I think KCM but be regreting their action. Chirwa must go! baane lets also demand want is ours.
I agree with what you say BUT dont on sharing of Euro Bond money.
It also incompetence for any CEO not to know that K500million was paid to anyone within 2.5 months. In my time as GM i would find time everyday and send weekly financials to MD with My comments. But 2 month!
Next time don’t answer to rumours… and never show tires to your enermies… relax.
Chirwa, if i were you, the best to do is resign. You are already labelled a conman, a failure, no corporate experience. The truth is that you need social capital for you to succeed. as the situation stands now, you have already failed even before you start. People hate you. Get this clear. It is nice that you read the social media.
Dont generalise you f.o.o.l. The fact is that the Prof will stay and revamp ZRL. You Zambians are lazy, lazy , lazy chaps. You always want to be paid for talking. It is high time Chirwa instils hard working mentality into people like’NO NSENSE’. We are tired of bein run by Laywers and Economists who spend billions of money arguing in court. Lazy Zambians. Leave the prof chirwa alone
This conman will not go back to the UK leaving a gold mine behind! He is a pure Gold Digger!
If we have systems in place for an organization to function ,we must follow those rules.No individual is bigger than an organiastion no matter how many docterates you hold.If Prof. Chirwa came to scrifice his time off from the U.K,then he must remeber that Zambia is a developing country that can not satisfy his greed.
but what do you do if you have a board behaving like an opposition part trying to bring you down..come on people when was the last time you heard any board holding press briefs to denounce its own management..i dont fully support chirwa but am of the view that lets give him a chance may he can revamp zrl
President Sata yo are doing a good job Keep Prof Chirwa his the man we need, to rebuild the railway firm. Ignore these people who just keep talking.
$560,000 a year is the rate you would pay a CEO of a company with revenues in excess of $10m.
Prof. Chirwa is worth every penny as the task ahead is monumental to say the least. ZRL will be transformed from the current situation of draining resources to a significant contributor to national coffers.
The value of this company will more than triple in Weeks and its share price will be taking quantum leaps.
The arguments being forwarded are mostly from people with a working class mentality. Prof. Clive Chirwa has invested his knowledge to ensure government has a return on its investment.
President Michael Sata in appointing the man, used his wisdom to limit the powers of the board.As evidenced by the numerous board meetings taken thusfar.
25% stake is too high a share option.
Can you have your IQ checked, it could be alarmingly low!
Can you have your IQ checked, it could be alarmingly low.
Chief Ego officer CEO
Your job is not safe, but on line. Yaluma had said all was well at ZRL, but the Board of Directors is no more. You are a political appointment and you could be disappointed The principle officer does not know what is going on. Sata is a King Cobra – a snake, all he cares about are his interests, when you become a liability , you will be gone to UK.
This whole thing is such a big stuff up that it can only (and I mean ONLY) come back to haunt PF in the future.
Wait until 2016 when we still don’t have an underground network, monorail, high-speed TGV train service or any of the other totally unrealistic things Chirwa has promised the nation but has somehow burned through billions and billions of dollars (including after five years something like US$2.05 billion on Chirwa’s own salary and accommodation, but excluding the US$0.25 he wants in shares for every dollar spent on recapitalizing the company!).
The biggest shame is that all the rope these people are going to use to hang themselves will cost this poor nation so damn much. Health, education, simple freight trains that work…. Hello?
@reliable!!!!!.. i gat your back!!!!!!.. this guy`s job is not safe we are online
Ya let him go to UK where the IRS are probably waiting for him.
Professor Chirwa mighty be a brilliant man but if left unchecked his arrogance will consume him, he needs to sober up a little bit and always remember the spotlight is on him.
At his age and level of education, Chirwa should be running his own company if he was smart as he claims. This guy is just a conman. The person to blame is Sata. My suspicion is that Sata just phoned this guy Chirwa to take up a position of CEO at ZRL.
The little frog that hopped its way to the finish line anxiously looked at all the naysayers, and watched their lips move about – BUT he continued hopping because he could see the red ribbon with the FINISH on it. What helped him more than anything else, was the fact that he was DEAF. Clive needs to be DEAF to all the naysayers and do what his conviction and integrity tells him to do. I believe nobody would thrust themselves into a CEO position nilly-willy; that has been the case in the past resulting in failed entities but I do believe that this could well be the game-changer. Shall we shut our mouths and try to open them again after about a year or year and a half? After all we have given failed CEOs a lifetime to plunder their way into the record books.
Tell this fraud to pack and go. we don’t need him at all. how dare he can demand a 25% of Zambian Railway shares. What a daylight Kawalala he is, he needs to be stoned.
When you look at Professor Chirwa’s behavior, its typical kalulu anonka type. But Sata has done so well to expose Chirwa to Zambians because we now know is all talk and no substance. Imagine a guy like Chirwa as president of Zambia!! Most Zambians, including myself, held him in high esteem but now I know he is full of arrogance, ill-governance and a self centered crook. I will never ever think of him as an alternative leader. Thanks to the PF government
Tell this fraud to pack and go. we don’t need him at all. how dare he can demand a 25% of Zambian Railway shares. We don’t need this fake professor, who at onetime he wanted to aspire to be UPND Secretary General only to change when UPND didn’t win elections. He is a fellow who wants to reap where he never sow.
At his age and level of education, Chirwa should be running his own company if he was smart as he claims. This guy is just a conman. The person to blame is Sata. My suspicion is that Sata just phoned this guy Chirwa to take up a position of CEO at ZRL.
Mr. President Remember Pa Mulambe in Mpika, where you used to leave your CD with us. One time you came suddenly at Chengelo when I was busy facilitating. You even promised to work with Mula in Lundazi and other Indians in Muchinga. Now all this is gone. New Chaps are busy surrounding you. It a shame.
In chitulika, we were there during your sisters funeral.. life change.
Nothing good comes cheap. Umungulu mwe bantu Chishesh!!!!
learn to give people chance let the man work before criticizing .ill judge him after 3 or so years
It is wrong that even before he’s started to fix the awes at ZR (if ever he was ever going to ), he’d started to think and plan about how much he was going to get from ZR.We do have Judge Chakopa in the country filling his bank account with tax payer money for doing nothing.This is just morally undigestable.When are we going to learn from our mountain of unnecessary mistakes?
I thought us diasporians would support Chirwa in his quest to revamp ZRL but it seems we are the ones throwing stones at our very own. Remember this can also happen to any of us. Lets give him a chance and support him, in that way the people back home wilöl have confidence in our expertise. Manje the Phd syndrome has even followed us kuma chalo chabene. Let the guy do his thing and we’ll talk when he fails.
Who is he referring to as ‘the Principal’?
People busy complaining about Clive Chirwa’s salary and yet we are paying Renard twice that amount.Ask standard chartered and barclays how much they are paying their CEO`s. Alternatively just get a good Education too and you will soon start getting KR250,000 per month.
….. ask “Standard chartered and Barclays how much they are paying their CEO`s” these companies generate their own income, they are not dependent on tax payers. Chirwa and the Sata bunch are robbing the poor Zambian tax payers and future children to be born in Zambia. Think before you comment please!!
No wonder they say that cheap things are expensive.The problem with most of you is that you are just looking at his pay check right now you are not looking at the picture five years from now.We are just a bunch of myopic citizens.I personally would prefer we spend big for now(including on his salary if thats what it takes to get quality) and enjoy in the future than employ some cheap individual who might just end up worsening things.How many companies have chaps like Chona turned around to start throwing the first stones ? High time we learnt how to detach emotions from things.Chirwa is the man.
We should just agree that Clive knows his true worth unlike that retarded professor called Saasa and other Zambians dull enough to buy stories from that board.We will work this thing out.Clive is the man no doubt.
Try the Chinese. TAZARA is there for anyone to see what they are able to do.
This is the Problem of not Trusting your own,we just heard this Chirwa not too long ago some time back in 2006 after hallucinating in diaspora as he wanted run for MMD Presidency.Does it mean there vwere no capable to take over ZRL within Zambia? Imagine the money Chirwa gets goes back to Britain.
Chirwa is right!There is no need to do feasibility study on something you really know is rotten.Most educated Zambians are corrupt indeed.What they want is to frustrate Chirwa so that Chona,Saasa,Mulenga and Mmembe can start benefiting .Please Ba Sata don’t allow those chaps to destroy your vision of turning ZRL around.Some professors are crooks.Why should you meet 20 times in 4 months really?ooops poor professors who wanna earn living without offering solutions.Let Chirwa do his job. No-wander uneducated laugh at us.Fighting for Euro bond!Ha ha ha pali hunger pa zed cine and people are too selfish to develop Zambia. I’ve never seen a christian nation with so many selfish individuals like Zambians.Shame on us!!!!!!!!!!
By the way professors are not widely educated people.
They study on average 16 courses for their Bachelors degree, another 4 for their Masters, thereafter narrow down to 1 for the their PhD ( eg Vehicle suspension system), then they write more about a single thing e.g CV Joint then they become a Professor.
So I do not get surprised when they come and have no need of a feasibility study. They find a rail slipper broken, a wagon broken, an office chair broken and they want to repair all of the at the same time. Also they want to build a new electric line, not knowing how much electricity Zambia has.
http://companycheck.co.uk/company/04051476
Business Summary
Clavel Incorporated Limited is an Active, non trading business incorporated in England & Wales on 11th August 2000. Their business activity is recorded as Engineering Related Scientific And Technical Consulting Activities. Clavel Incorporated Limited is run by 4 current members. and 1 company secretary. 4 shareholders own the total shares within the company. It is not part of a group.
The latest Annual Accounts submitted to Companies House for the year up to 31/08/2011 reported ‘cash at bank’ of £0, ‘liabilities’ worth £0, ‘net worth’ of £0 and ‘assets’ worth £0. Clavel Incorporated Limited’s risk score was amended on 20/05/2011.
Company Register
Status Non trading
Registered date 11/08/2000
Company number…
the ‘principal’ has effectively rendered the future board useless. They will be forced to bow down to prof’s demands and fail to provide check an balances as they should. Congrats to the past board from stopping him from single-sourcing his company to provide consulting and chairing tender committees.
I wonder as to why Chirwa is talking about underground subway before even fixing ZR! But his pay is shamefully too high. What chunk off the Eurobond would that be after one, two,or so years? Appetite for personal enrichment seems has not limits! A man’s thinking about oneself never stops to amaze me. That salary from borrowed money! What is personal sacrifice? I look at Lusaka streets and see the suffereing poor people, asking for ubwafwilisho to someone seated having a meal at some eating place. And Chirwa is getting so much for himself alone from the borrowed money! Different contexts but that how personal sacrifice can be looked wt. Chirwa do not rob your own country. Show them what you have learned and experienced but do not rob from your country. Serve the country. Sacrifice!
the board must be commended for standing on their feet agai
nst chirwa. foolish.ceo
There’s a disaster awaiting to happen at ZRL if Chirwa continues to run the company like currently. By using basic economics one can realise the following: a)ZRL does not generate enough income to sustain its operations b)ZRL is currently surviving on proceeds from the eurobond c)Prof Chirwas plans are depend on a massive capital injection in ZRL ($1Bn by his own projection) d)Zambia does not have capacity to access the $1Bn required (both from internal resources and borrowing externally) d)wen the borrowed money is exosited and ZRL cannot new capital, that’s when it will become apparent to the Prof praise singers that will have reached the end of the road. Unfortunately that will be double tragedy to the tax payer – they would have lost money spent Chirwa’s experiments and
cnt’d
now this guy would have to b compaseted for the remainder of his contract 🙁
Who needs a national airline when you have a railroad to rape?
Feasibility study? Pthpht….. just spend!
In my opinion, Peter is very right. Everybody knows and can literally see what the problem on the ground is, so why should we waste more tax payers money and time to start conducting a feasibility study ??? Which might also take more than a year or two to complete ! If you the problem can be well defined such as rotten train cabins and non-existent rail lines…why conduct a feasibility study, just for the sake of it ? Please do not behave like a robot, just because of a text book. Zambia needs an up and running railway network like yesterday and NOT doing a feasibility study will not HURT this project process.
TOO MANY COOKS SPOIL THE BROTH !!!
However, if Mr Chirwa is staying on as CEO, he should re-think taking our tax-payers 25% stake of ZRL for his own benefit !! Be Patriotic !!
Do not blame Chirwa. He made an offer & it was accepted. BLAME the one who employed him. Ministers, PSs & Chikopa are still plundering money on accommodation & you are not complaining. Chirwa is SMART.
Going by what is expressed on LT blog indicates serious pit falls in managing our strategic development areas in our nation. To begin with, there is lack of professional advice to the president. President Sata has a populist leadership style that tend to appease the general proletariat who have no idea how development comes about. With a polular intent Mr Sata appointed prof. Chirwa on a blank cheque as CEO of ZRL. As said, without any professional economic advice offered to the president he assumed ZRL will be turned round and become his successful story. However, there are procedural ethics to be observed before success can be registered. Example is where Prof. Chirwa obtained a letter from his solicitors to negotiate on his emolument as ZRL CEO. These were agreed upon on his contract
Imagine if the energy expended on this debate about Chirwa and the Board and so on was channeled into progressive issues like ‘Creating new future rail routes into other parts of Zambia’ or ‘ How ZR can tap into renewable energies’ or something along those lines, Zambia would not be the same….But alas!!.
How much would you pay a bricklayer or contractor to build your house worth Kr 400, 000.
Would 10%-30% of the value be reasonable?
For those that import cars or trucks, how much do they pay drivers to collect their vehicles, 5%-15% of the value.
How much do you expect to pay a taxi driver over the life time of the vehicle? lets say 3yrs Kr500/wk by 52wks by 3wks would give Kr 78,000. Wages would be Weeks cashing Kr500 by 12 months equating to Kr 6000 and Kr 18,000 over the 3yrs giving you an outlay of 23% interms of wages and a return of 41% on an initial investment of Kr 25,000.
A taxi driver has earned 23% of the total revenue.
How much should a CEO of a company that is projected to earn $10-30million every year from the 4th year?
I thought us diasporians would support Chirwa in his quest to revamp ZRL but it seems we are the ones throwing stones at our very own. Remember this can also happen to any of us. Lets give him a chance and support him, in that way the people back home wilöl have confidence in our expertise. Manje the Phd syndrome has even followed us kuma chalo chabene. Let the guy do his thing and we’ll talk when he fails.
These fundamental parameters were met and equiped Prof Chirwa to perform his tasks without issues of corncen. Any breach to his contract will bear heavy costs to the tax payer and national resources. Prof Chirwa scaned the entire ZRL from its historical position, current status and where it is required to be. Information available could not sustain the micro-transformational process. Faced with sumplementation of a feasibility study report costing extra to ZRL, prof Chirwa being a competent engineer crafted, drafted and developed a document fit for the purpose. All that was needed was a committee of other engineers to verify or modify it to suit our developmental needs of the railway system in the nation. This is how inventors, designers and entrepreneurs in the west are supported.
To politic over this issue will result in Zambia losing in the long run as Chirwa will still receive his dues signed in legal contract as CEO. While concerns expressed may be valid either side, the weight is more on his side on pointing wastage of money for the nation with corrupt obscene allowances by board members. Demands and other issues raised by former board members are more to do with appointing authority (Mr Sata) to clarify them and offer altenative. Calls for Chirwa to leave send negative signals to who ever will come to take over abeit ZRL will never change which would be a shame.
This is an unfortunate chapter in the history of our country! Chirwa should rise above his ego and resign. His position at ZRL is no longer tenable. If he cannot see this, he is not CEO material; then again, most of us know he is not!
Even sadder is the lack of leadership at State House. One would expect a true leader to intervene before the relationship between the board and CEO (both appointed by the same leader) deteriorates to this extent.
The Minister failed us and it s him who should be feared because both parties reported to him. And he assured us that he was on top of things .
Point of correction my fellow country men and women,the professor clarified that he is not going to build an under ground tunnel all over Zambia.during sunday’s interview,he said only a Kilometer (1 km) will go underground in order order to avoid congestion around lusaka town centre.
Regarding his salary,how many of as are ready to help this country by accepting a reduction in our salaries.This is what this man did.The amount of money we are talking about is far less than what he was getting before accepting this offer.Did you want him to say he will be getting nothing to show that he is a patriot?Lets learn to support each other if we are to develop as country
A number of questions need to be asked about Chirwa
1. Has he ran a company before? NO
2. Has he got rail management experience? NO
3. Has he got business experience? NO
4. Has he worked for a company before rather than teaching? NO
How then was he appointed?
we learn management skills from as early as secondary school you don’t need a litmus test when you are a Prof .
Clearly,”TIZ wishes to emphasise that the $120million Eurobond, which is earmarked for ZRL, stands at a risk if the accusations either way are proved right. This is because the $120million is not a grant but a loan which will undoubtedly be recovered from all citizens and residents in Zambia who pay tax. These funds should therefore not be subjected to risky investments and unsustainable lavish spending- these funds should be employed in reviving the railway systems.”
Surely we the people of Zambia should learn from our past mistakes and avoid repeating. We have had enough of such scams that leave us highly indebted for nothing but for the sake of a few educated or uneducated greed individuals who fail to see the big picture of resuscitating our mother land.
God help us!
Well said. pull him down syndrome is a deadly virus busy chewing Zambia’s developmental projects and the economy at large . Its so sad that this virus has now infected the youth too. Learn to appreciate your own and unite for a good cause. We all make mistakes , Prof Chirwa needs another chance .
The Saasaz and whoever of this country have been tried before . Let Prof deliver on his promise first. Feasibility study,a drain on the current project . government inspectors and railway men and women carried that on the current track because thats where the $120 is going. Komanga musungu ,useless.
The prof has been suspended by the president pending ACC investigations.
This is interesting
Yes CEO’s in Zed make about that much KR100,000 plus so there is probably nothing wrong with his salary. However the 20% share is outrageous even in developed economies the most that CEO’s are entitled to under share option schemes is about 5% or less depending on them meeting set targets.
I can’t help but to wonder if all this noise would have been made if Prof C was a muzungu!!
Is it just me?? Chriwa speaks and looks like a Congolese. His accent is very much Congolese.
Fellow bloggers, lets not be judgmental based on the little info from the article. Read and pay attention to what Complexity has observed in his blog above entries. Its either he is a Lawyer or someone with construction law knowledge. In short Prof Chirwa negotiated his entitlements which were accepted and both parties must adhere to that. Any breach will result in heavy penalties by both parties to the contract.
I am surprised his brother at ZCF did tell him how things work in Zambia. That’s the way people get fired in Zambia. Actually you can have the person replacing you giving you your termination letter. It is usually done this way to avoid people playing with evidence. Mr Chirwa you should have known that when they fire your accountant, it is the same as getting at you. It is a management by exception. anyway I know you should know better.
Do you remember Dr Malama, he was promised a ob in foreign service but upto now. So be prepared to join the queue
Zambians have cold feet when it comes to real issues,let him deliver first then we will pay him from the profits ZRL makes ,in the mean time lets use him and the knowledge he got from our colonialist its pay back time, our James Bond is back home.
The problem that I see is that the Prof was away for too long and so does not appreciate that Zambians are not the same!!!!!!!! They see through crooks like him very fast. I hope all of you people in the diaspora wishing to come back and milk us here in Zambia are learning your lessons
you are all crying for 248,000zmw, when Rena gets 500,000 zmw for shouting at boyz chasing a ball.
I thought this chirwa crook is by now back in his adopted country united kingdom?Here we sweat for our money while in uk you are paid for sleeping.
Now what do u want him 2 do 4 u as mere individual? he working 4 the pipo of Zambia and not u as an individual