Hosia Mviringi
Mr Tawanda Gusha has been appointed as the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of the Airports Company of Zimbabwe effective July 1, 2021.
The Airports Company of Zimbabwe is a relatively new entity on the local aviation space which is a product of unbundling exercise of the Civil Aviation Authority by the parent Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development in July 2020, as a way of avoiding conflict of interest and in keeping with internationally accepted standards.
“Mr Tawanda Gusha brings to the ACZ over 21 years experience in the aviation sector having worked in different capacities in the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) which include Air Traffic Controller, Duty Manager, Regional Airports Manager, and as Director of Airports and Business Development, a position he held since June 2016 until his recent appointment,” said Board Chairman Mr Devnanda Popatlal, Board Chairman of ACZ in an announcement.
Exactly 12 months ago, the then Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development, (late) Engineer Biggie Matiza said the decision was being made by international best practices.
The reasoning is that CAAZ cannot be both regulator and player at the same time.
Thus the unbundling accorded the new entity the opportunity to take over and manage all airports in Zimbabwe and be responsible for upgrade and maintenance of all related infrastructure including ancillary roads and bridges.
In the ensuing twelve months, the ACZ Board was preoccupied with the need to set up a functional secretary to steer and coordinate the company’s activities going forward.
“We are confident that his strategic and operational knowledge of the aviation industry will bring very valuable and much-needed experience to the company as it seeks to fully operationalise and grow in line with national priorities as enshrined in the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1),” said the statement by Popatlal.
Part of his mandate is to drive the implementation of the company’s 2021-2023 strategic plan and with it the completion of its separation from CAAZ, the finalisation of staff recruitment and operationalisation of company financial plans.
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