By Dorcas Rumano
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has appointed Dr Sydney Zikuzo Gata as the Executive Chairman of ZESA Holdings (Pvt) Ltd.
A press statement released by the Ministry of Energy and Power Development read, “The Minister of Energy and Power Development, Hon Fortune Chasi (MP) with the concurrence of His Excellency the President, Hon ED Mnangagwa is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Sydney Zikuzo Gata as the Executive Chairman of ZESA Holdings (Pvt) Ltd. He will be deputised by Mrs Tsitsi Makovah.”
Dr Gata brings a wealth of experience to the power utility company, having served in the energy sector both internationally and locally.
“Dr Gata brings with him a wealth of experience and institutional memory as he has previously served at ZESA in various capacities. He has served as a Board member of the World Energy Council Commission Board, an Executive Director of Integrated Energy Systems Limited (UK) and is a managing partner at EMC Continental (Pvt) Ltd. He has played various advisory roles in the energy sector and participated in various international consultancies.
“In his previous stint at the utility, he oversaw the reform and restructuring involving the unbundling of ZESA, the expanded rural electrification programme that involved the electrification of 5 400 rural public institutions in three years as well as the Kariba South refurbishment and upgrading which raised the capacity from 666MW to 750MW,” read the statement.
According to the statement, Mrs Makovah is a Chartered Secretary and Administrator. She is also a business leader with experience in the energy sector and has served on previous board of ZESA Holdings and has chaired the Powertel Communication (Pvt) Ltd board. She has vast experience in the energy sector and has also worked for freight and clearance companies as well as the revenue authority.
In addition, Mrs Makovah has held positions where she has been responsible for strategy formulation and oversight, overall implementation and driving company policy and strategy as well as controlling and sourcing financial resources.
The Ministry of Energy and Power Development went on to congratulate Dr Gata and Mrs Makovah on their assignment saying that they hope the two will steer the new board in tackling the myriad of challenges currently being experienced in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in Zimbabwe.
The Ministry notified that other board members would be announced in due course. It highlighted that appointment of other new boards that fall under the Ministry which include Petrotrade, NOIC and Finealt will be announced in the coming days.
