Transport Minister Yamfwa Mukanga has confirmed that suspended Zambia Railways Managing Director Clive Chirwa has been retired in national interest.
In an interview with Journalists in Lusaka Monday afternoon, Mr. Mukanga said government decided to retire Professor Chirwa in national interest.
“Yes we have retired him. We decided to do it in national interest. It was the best option,” Mr. Mukanga said.
He however clarified that Transport Permanent Secretary Muyenga Atanga has not yet been confirmed as Managing Director of Zambia Railways.
“We are yet to confirm Dr. Atanga, he continues acting which he has been doing for the past few months,” he said.
Sources at the Ministry of Transport revealed that government retired Professor Chirwa and decided to pay him his full benefits as outlined in his five year contract.
The sources also said investigations by the ACC and the Auditor General in Prof Chirwa’s conduct at the railway firm which have since been called off did not find him wanting.
The Mark Chona led board was however found wanting after the investigations were concluded.
“The Professor has since been communicated to and he has accepted the decision since they will pay him in full. He will be smiling to the bank,” the source said.
When reached for a comment over the weekend, Professor Chirwa refused to comment on the matter.
“No comment sir, no comment,” he said.
AGONY IS HAVING A BEMBA MOTHER AND A NIGERIAN FATHER WHO ARE ON SEPARATION.
That Mix awe Bemba and Nigerian sure hahahahahaha.
@Analysis Corner…whats that bemba crap ? Waba ibo-olo chik ala.Match ende ya call.I hate tribalists because they stereotype people.
@Soka!
Cool down brother.
Don’t let shallow people upset you and cause you to sin.
I can’t remember the last time I insulted.
I forgot about such insults but here I am today, you remind me and make me insult too.
Though deliberately spelled wrongly we have to make sense of your words and…
A retirement of REAL National Interest would be that of KALUSHA and RENARD!
@#1. Why did your parents separate? It could be because of you. I can imagine the off-spring, what a son that would be.
you are spot on am bemba and employed a tonga as farm manager my farm prospered unfortunately he past away then i employed a bemba my tribesman the farm went broke because every month i was losing my animals due to thefts,guess who was organising the thefts
Try hiring qualified people for a change. The country has lost money for nothing.
Since when did a teacher become a CEO and salvage a floundering corporation unrelated to education? Ubupuba bweka bweka! Bulesempauka noku sempauka
WHAT IS THIS NATIONAL INTEREST CRAP?
I think we should devise a system of determining NATIONAL INTEREST by way of public consultation/referendum. People that are retired this way walk away with huge sums of money, yet in Chirwa’s case, he was under a CRIMINAL investigation whose outcome it now seems we will not get know since it will be IRRELEVANT as Chirwa, if found with a case to answer, would have left the country and Zambia would’nt have the muscle to extradict him (a UK citizen).
Mistakes are very very expensive, especially hiring people you can’t supervise or fire, the end result is offering retirement benefits a day after hiring them.
Well said Nubian Princess!
Nubian Brinchess you got it wrong.Ford CEO trained as an aeronautic engineer but now he’s a manager and Bill Gates never graduated yet he was Microsoft CEO -both these guys never trained in management or business schools.
You are spot on. How much has he been paid for doing nothing when we have Zambian professional who could have done a better job for half the price! And why are we paying him? For what>? He should pay the Zambian people for fooling them. I am so angry.
@Nubian Princess, you raise some pertinent issues. Would someone with information confirm the experience and qualifications that the acting MD for Zambia Railways brings to the table. I hope this is not just another political appointment void
of the necessary requisite skills either in business management or engineering? There is alot at stake for Zambia Railways to fail. With the right appointment and a credible team in place, ZR can rise again, this project needs a dedicated team from cross disciplines.
@Enka, your remarks are not entirely correct. Your citations aren’t consistent. Dont you realise the relevance of aeronautical engineering to the auto industry? Why do auto makers have wind tunnels? Modern cars need to be aerodynamically efficient, there is alot in common (material sciences etc). Bill Gates may have dropped out at Harvard but that was not because he was daft, he just had interests in other things. He is the embodiment of the entrepreneur, focused and someone who knows his business sector. If you knew the co-relationship between their skills and business sectors you just may have been more circumspect in your comments.
Good.Travel well my dear Chirwa.Forgive these haters who were just busy looking at your payslip and not what you would have had brought to the table in the long run.Our country is just full of player haters.They can take away your job but not your papers.I wish you a long life.
Obviously Chirwa was up to to No good. A person only gets retired in the national interest because the nation would lose if they were to continue in a given position!
Well said Zebige.Twalibelela ukuchula no wonder we won’t develop.Now the man can go where he is appreciated.
Fire the hiring manager. How can he hire someone he can’t fire? I am not saying Clive is to blame. Blame Sata who dreamed of hiring him, without realizing that his dogs will be barking at him every-time he reports to work, because of UKsh smell.
Is gone back to Bolton to go and manage the Bolton Railways corporation!
Seems there is someone who is doing a hatched job. So the only thing that is true about the original story is that Chirwa has been retired in the national interest. What is this national interest if one may ask? Would the national interest been at risk if Chirwa were to continue?
The stuff about Atanga becoming new CEO and him been informed and been excited is a LIE. We await to hear whether the stuff about Chirwa been innocent is true. And whether the Board is ‘guilty’ as charged! The SOURCE indeed!
The difference btwn zambians and south africans: We would rather see a foreigner prosper than our own people. I could smell the hate for prof. Chirwa when the Engineers Association said he had far-fetched ambitions for ZRL. Pessimists cannot drive us anywhere
I can`t agree more.Well said mate.
Iwe your Chirwa has been retired in the national interest! He was a danger to himself and the public.
Iwe this has nothing to do with parochial interests. The man is a con man.
This is very disappointing in terms of Governance. Why do such important info need to be leaked by the media. Why didn’t ACC call for a press briefing and tabled the full report to the public that pays them. This is exactly what happened with Kabimba and GBM investigations. No formal report or presentation of the findings to the public.
How can the Govt suspend someone and say in the best interest when the public have not even seen the findings to agree with you that it was in the best interest?
Ms Siliya was accused during MMD reign, investigated and report made public and that was when she was re-appointed. Can’t PF do the same.
They make so much noise when they launch investigations and the findings are quietly tucked away. Only at Matero University. RB cases will be the…
I can only think of him been a danger to himself and the public hence the reason why he has been retired in the national interest.
Nansoni palibe! It is just like business as usual. Ababantu banaba lowa kuipa kuli ba ma bold head.
A lesson to those that accept sataz jobs. He offers a carrot and stick. Just say you have fired the illusionist. And that fellow on the photo why does he look dusty.
Awe Kwena you have cracked my ribs, ati why does he look dusty. I looked at the photo again and almost fell off my sit.
Yamfwa Mukanga will handpick another crony like he did for ZamPost. ZR will be a total mess – watch this space
Is he from diigging mice. I love dried salted mice.
Bwahahaha!
The way you put it – Ati I love Dried Salted Mice. That made me laugh.
Idiocy, Idiocy, idiocy reflected in bad failed governancy
Dr. Atanga has academic qualifications and experience in his area of specialization, but is not the right person to be appointed as CEO for Zambia Railways. Just having academic qualifications does not mean one is qualified to run any company. Let Dr. Atanga continue acting as ZR CEO until a right person is found. We need a person like Mr. Clive Chirwa to run ZR. A person who has passion about ZR will be successful and can bring “abundant life to ZR”. We should learn a lesson from Zambia Railways that appointing board of directors who have no passion is very bad. To them it is just a job.
Paying $700,000 P/A to Clive is not much, but just a drop of water compared to what he was going to achieve. A report is a must . We need to know the truth what transpired at ZR.
Clive Chirwa has no experience in running a company. If Atanga is not qualified then Chirwa is also not qualified. Both have ZERO experience in turning around a limping railway company! Let us be objective about this.
“Qualifications & Experience to run ZR”. Referenced to passion. Both may have Zero experience and have academic qualifications and achieve results differently. A person who has passion would do everything in his power to achieve a desired dream. All past Zambia Railways CEO had academic qualifications but Zambia Railways is in bad shape. When it is just a job it is not easy to turn things around. The way Mr. Atanga looks at ZR is different from the way Mr. Chirwa looks at ZR although both of them would want to transform the limping ZR. That’s what I mean qualified. It was a shame for the past board to drag in Clive’s salary-package which was settled before he became CEO in misunderstanding at ZR. Now that Clive is no longer in ZR, HQ is transferred to Lusaka. Greed has cost Zambia.
The ACC should provided a report to the nation. Just to retire Clive in the National interest is not enough. Was he involved in corruption? Was the board corrupt? Or both parties corrupt. Greediness from either the Board or Clive or from both is costing ZR and a nation a lot of money. We need to know the truth about the Board and Clive. The love of money by some leader has cost Zambia.
To the racists out there always complaining about Bemba this, Bemba that … what is your problem. Get over it! Bembas are the majority. It is not my fault that the rest don’t want to copulate:
21.5% Bemba
11.3% Tonga
5.2% Lozi
5.1% Nsenga
4.3% Tumbuka
3.8% Ngoni
2.9% Chewa
1.1% White
[source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zambia%5D
That said, we are still One Zambia, One Nation.
Wow,the Bemba have done their maths….one + one,minus clothes & divide … equals many Bembas.
How about the “mixed couples” Children? Father Bemba*Mother Tonga, Father Tonga*Mother Bemba etc. So what is the % of this Group. To the racists out there always complaining about Bemba this, Bemba that … what is your problem. Get over it! Bemba men or Bemba women married to Tonga women or Tonga men and vice versa are not racists. President RB is married to a Bemba and is not a racist. Racists bear in mind, we are still One Zambia, One Nation. Shame to all racists regardless of the tribe. The Christian Nation, one nation dividing itself. The only answer is for the un married racists and racists sons and daughters to marry Bembas to produce mixed couple because they are ungrateful to God of their tribe.
National interest my foot. A lot of contradiction here. If the investigation cleared him then he should be re-instated. You say he is is being paid out in terms of his contract and you say that is in ‘national interest’!!? How so? He is being paid without delivering so it is a loss for the nation!! Your investigations show he did nothing wrong so why are you letting him go at the expense of the nation!? And to think that he is being let go and paid under the same contract that was the bone of contention!!
Why retire the man if he has done nothing wrong. The national interest is when Prof Chirwa’s expertise are utilised to develop home grown projects. He should have been given the division responsible of setting up rail tracks across the country. How can you retire someone without breaking a sweat? Too much foolishness in this government.
# 13 your math is wrong. Are you talking about bemba speaking people or the tribe itself. You must be a form 2 drop out.
@Zambezi. Form two. when did we have Form two. it was either standard six or Form three. Of late grade nine hahahaha. anyway he lack reasoning. Bembas are less than 1 %. Those lala, Bisa, etc. Lozis, He did include the Toka-leya, Nyoyas, Kunda, luvale etc, He speaks Incibemba and relatively dull at same spot
# 15 , you correct. For example yamfwa is not even bemba. He is lunda from luapula,from congo in mwati yavwa kingdom.
Now if we go by tribal inclinations to elect presidednt. Which tribe will always rule?
We are living in self denial to think that PF can bring development in the country
Tribal feelings should never be entertained in all human endevours because it retards development and disadvantages certain groupings. By this, all those who stereotype the Bemba grouping must stop, otherwise if we retaliate they will always be sad
Yes, like what you did with PF. It has retarded development for sure
Please sweetie, could you spell your name properly. “Nkonko” is the correct spelling.
Utter incompetence and idiocy from this government. All that money wasted for nothing. I suppose the professor will now have to go back to the UK. Too much tulo from our politicians. We need young new blood who can shake things up for the benefit of our country. Instead we have these NKOTEs who are appear sleeping where affairs of the nation are concerned. If properly vetted none of this shambles would be going on today. I see they are now appointing one of their own. What a shame.
Prof has been retired in the interest of the thieves and not the public, the public was not consulted when this man was nominated into this post and why bringing the public into this? Anyone taking this position must be ready to follow the rules of the game:
1. Do what they have been doing for years (steal the public funds and destroy the company and theft evidences)
2. Take orders from above and do anything they ask you to do with no objection
3. Be stupid in your job and look intelligent to the public
Well, prof Chirwa realised that he made a big mistake in signing the contract with 100 pages of small writings that could not be read under the heat of the African. sun.
Zambia should have retired MC Sata,Mmembe,Kabimba and GBM who are liabilities in national interest and not Mr Clive Chirwa who is a true national asset.
How much has he been paid for doing nothing? How much?
If I was Professor and have Zambians at heart I would donate the money to charity of my choice (orphanage, etc). I think he should consider my suggestion; no harm in giving the poor!!!
@Flash, that is an honourable suggestion, but then its said there is no honour among thieves.
Ba Flash!
Could it be that this was planed to end like this and some people share the money??????
People rise up and show the hoodlums the door, this is utter nonsense.!!!, how long are we going to wait for sanity in the system!!!!!
If he has not been found wanting why not allow to complete the job? Why retire him prematurely and pay him in full? This is becoming a prominent feature in the PF government. Is this not a form of money laundering?
PF govt is typical of a group of people who fail to analyse issues systematically and elucidate rationale out as a verdect. In PF’s common sense its cheaper to retire Prof. Chirwa with full benefits of a five year contract than let him complete his term while contributing to the nation and pay him his dues at end of contract. By Govt of Kaponyas for Kaponyas by Kaponyas. Prof. Chirwa loughs to the bank, Zambians = 0.
Iif he was found with no case why retire him? SometHing s not being told in this story.
These are my assumption:
1.The board were not happy that Chirwa refused to pay them for doing nothing.
2.They threw mud at Chirwa (counter- accusations) which could not stick, because Chirwa had done nothing wrong.
3.That board was too close to Sata.
4.Reinstating Chirwa would have proved his (Chirwa’s) contention the board had wanted to be paid for doing nothing.
5.Retire Chirwa with full pay and spare his friends from public shame and let the tax payer foot the bill.
Lessons for Sata:
1.Do not allow a clean person to work with or under your corrupt friends-if you are not prepared to fire your friends.
2. Do not hire someone from an honest work culture if you are not prepared to change.
Lessons for Zambians abroad:
1.Ichalo ngachaingilwe’ nsala maningi umusebanya..PK…