The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Morgan Tsvangirai says the appointment of President Robert Mugabe’s son-in-law, Simba Chikore, as the Chief Operations Officer at Air Zimbabwe (Private) Limited is a very sad and tragic development for the country.
In a statement, the MDC-T said, “This just confirms that the Mugabe dynasty has virtually privatized the state. Zimbabwe is now equivalent to a private limited company whose majority shareholders are the Mugabe dynasty and their cronies.
“The MDC would like to condemn, in the strongest terms possible, the Zanu PF regime’s continued plunder of state resources as well as the regime’s utter and complete disregard and disdain for the dictates of good corporate governance.”
As a party, the MDC-T said, it doubts that Chikore was subjected to a transparent interviewing process before he landed his new job as the Chief Operations Officer of the near bankrupt national airline.
“More importantly, we have got very serious doubts concerning Simba Chikore’s suitability for this high profile assignment at the perennially loss-making national airline.
“This whole episode smacks of naked and crude nepotism and patronage. We challenge the Air Zimbabwe (Private) Limited board as well as the Minister of Transport & Infrastructural Development, Joram Gumbo, to furnish the nation with details pertaining to Simba Chikore’s professional qualifications as well as his work experience.”
In addition, the MDC-T said, Zimbabwe should also be “furnished with details pertaining to when, where and how the interviewing process, if any, was conducted.”
It is not clear whether Chikore ever worked for any airline though some media organizations have linked him to Air Zimbabwe and Qatar Airlines. He was not reachable for comment.
The struggling Air Zimbabwe owes creditors millions of dollars.