Former Finance and National Planning Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane says newly appointed Zambia Railways Limited Chief Executive Officer Clive Chirwa has an uphill battle to resuscitate the railway company.
Speaking in an interview with Qfm News, Dr. Musokotwane says Zambia Railways needs huge capital investment in order for it operate more efficiently.
He says it will be interesting to see how the new Zambia Railways Chief Executive Officer will execute his plan to boost the company’s relevance to the country’s economy.
Dr. Musokotwane has however noted that Professor Chirwa has the right credentials to take the company forward.
Professor Chirwa who was recently appointed by President Michael Sata has given himself three year in which to transform the railway company’s fortunes.
Sela tubombeko iwe!
Mupalamikeni mubombe nankwe
Prof Chirwa needs everyone’s support for ZRL to be where we want it to be as a nation
Just remember he said three years,ninshi the diesel engines are gone and we have electric trains and that the company will produce its own electricity. if there are any conditions attached,gives us the specifics now and not start new ones when the deadline passes. i believe in the proff,infact i have even written a paper or two with him but the time and looking at the funding. it might be a bigger pie to chew. but am still optimistic.
how do u propose we suport him
kabili mwali iba ba situmbeko and all you want is to see some one fail. typical of zedian kamushis. even when u have a phd sure, amano nakalya
Prosecute him or else just STFU!
Life has challenges & its how we overcome these challenges that tell people how great we are…Lets work with chirwa & help him succeed, lets not wish hm to fail besides its not about chirwa but Zambia as a whole
Yes, you are very right. It is not about Chirwa but Zambia.
This is sense!
i like it
It’s goes without saying that he (Chirwa) has an uphill battle ahead of him. That doesn’t exhibit pessimism… It’s just realistic…period!:-w
I don’t think musokwane means bad when he says Chirwa faces a problem to bring back ZR to life. ZR is in a bad state like many of the institutions we have in Zambia. To have these institutions on trck it means more than sweat not just support. He needs good manpower which usually is not avaible in Zambia and lots of money. The 1000 km of railline that he will be in charge may easily require K4 billion a km hence 4 trillion kwacha comapre this again Zambian budget and then you will understand what it means. The supporting facilities for the railways are non functional. Indeed good luck to him especially as he talks to HEMCS for resources.
It is true, it would be an uphill battle to anyone not only Chirwa. Financial and moral support is vital on this one. But how? we need a very serious investor to partner with, then things will move. Or let professor Chirwa buy shares as long as he does not externalize the money realised from the same company.
Musokotwane and MMD have no shame,they killed the railway system and can now even afford to say ‘it will be interesting to see how Prof will run railways,did you want to die.’Go Prof do your best for the sake of our grandchildren.
Musokotwane forgets that until Chiluba came to power he was a lowly paid academcian at UNZA. He was hand picked from the Staff Room by Jacob Mwanza to be Deputy Governor he was never confirmed because he couldnt relate with people. He caused the creation of Deputy Governor Administration. He was then assigned a project as Finance where he worked alone before going to Swaziland and back…..Allow Chirwa to have a go at this parastatal let him make mistakes and allow for him to grow the way you Situ where enabled to grow thanks to Kebby.
@Lemmy. What are you disagreeing with what Musokotwane has said? Isn’t it not TRUE that Chirwa faces an uphill battle to resuscitate ZRL? Hasn’t Musokotwane said that Chirwa is qualified to run ZRL? Grow up you monkeys! What is wrong with Musokotwane being appointed by Dr Mwanza as Research or Economics Director at BOZ? Doesn’t Muskotwane have a PhD in Economics? Muskotwane went to Swaziland on an IMF appointment as Adviser to the Swazi Central Bank. You’re a jealousy Muppet…sucker!
The problem with you monkey is you always punctuate your talk with what you are…a monkey! When will you learn that the term monkey is a racial epithet, likening every black person regardless of tribe to monkeys? Good points though…the Doctor had all the credentials for the posts he held at BOZ.
I don’t simply see customers for the rail systems in Zambia or Africa.
It could have been better to reintroduce bus-commuter system, and continue with the efforts of Chirwa’s fellow CEO at RDA Willie Nsanda’s road projects.
Nsanda is not CEO we shilu we!
How can you see customers when there is no product to sell. Let the prof and his team revamp the rail line then they can market it to potential customers. This is not Addis Ababa drive, if you know what I mean.
nsanda is the c/man for RDA
SELA TUBOMBEKO…………
i dont understand what this means. frankly it sounds like an excuse to work. am told its a new pf slogan, but who is it addressed to? if the pf is ruling who are they asking to move? they are in charge of all the ministries,parliament,they always win on the ruling especially with the mmd deputy ministers. all parastatals are run by the people they appointed. so who exactly should move. find a different slogan ba sir.
Has Prof Chirwa heard of Dr Malama and how he was fired. What about funding for ZCF, a company run by his brother. Don’t reliquish that citizenship yet, you will regret baba.
Prof Chirwa has no foresight and I doubt he can lead the nation. He talks of three years to change railways but I will be generous to give him 10 years, he won’t still make it in that time
You are as useless as your under pant. All you want is for Prof to fail so that you celebrate with your under 5 and think that will propel you to victory in 2016, you wait until we finish you with all that remains in your pants *****.
”it will be interesting to see how Prof will run railways” to me this statement had some negative tone to it…its like he is just waiting for Prof Clive to fail so that he can laugh, such kind of thinking is really cambersome. He will make it you hear me Musokotwane..?
Indeed it will be interesting to see how ZRL will be run. In 2007 a joint COMESA and Sadc study reported that ZRL needed upwards of $1 billion to run efficiently.
While I perfectly congrate the professor but I urge him to be strong and see beyond the nose as this is a long-term strategic plan unlike the 3 year alluded to? I would breakdown your priorities:
1) Rail Tracks 2) Locomotives 3) Infrastructure (Buildings) 4) Human capital 5) Marketing and viability. In view of the above, I can assure you that these are not over-night tasks that expect glory daybreak but requires consented stakeholders with one sense of objective- to transform the rail system as an altenative mode of bulk goods haulage Vs. modern, effecient lorries! Yon can not expect to buy locomotives when the rail line from Ndola to Luanshya has been ripped off for fencing let alone the fruck stone and rail slippers as slub foundation or robots at road crossing to man handled now!!
Just an addition, point no. 2 above should read rolling stock which include locomotives and wagons in rail language. You cannot run locomotives alone.
No. 8 Railways was killed by Chiluba, Sata and Panji. It had nothing to do with the Rupiah MMD govt. It is better to be honest in our comments
So ninshi bamusokotwane you know that gang raped Zambia’s economy? ZL ati concession & when Sata reversed u talked nonsense,now you see he meant well for mother zed ka. . So do not talk too much, seleni tubombeko. King Cobra ukulu pa tank mudala.
Sela tubombeko iwe ! Yashani bakamba ba Muso ?
Barotseland needs you Dr.
as new Ngambela. Lol.
Prof.Chirwa should not fall prey like the 90 days saga by Cycle Mata.I wish Prof.Chirwa had his own money at his disposal to meet his 3 years dream,otherwise this Zambia Ltd for you.
Chirwa may have good plans but it will take more than three years to resuscitate that skeleton of a railway system that is currently on the ground in Zambia. I think he mentioned the three-year period for the purpose of pleasing the appointing authority just like Sata himself used the 90-day “formula” to dupe the gullible Zambian voters.
Transition from academic life to business is going to be tough for the Professor. Very few have done it, especially at an advanced age, contrary to the views of a lot of people on this forum.
I hope he will realize that in the real world the best people are not necessarily the best academics, and respect and utilize already experienced people in the company.
He should forgot about non-core activities like building coaches in Choma or ZRL generating its own electricity. Instead concentrate on the core business – logistics and distribution.
Building a rail track to Mongu at millions of dollars is ridiculous. Where is the market? But extend the rail track to one of the Angolan ports and it begins to make sense. Connect Zambia to the outside markets and not to Lusaka only.
I we Engineer, building arailway track to Mongu makes a lot of economic sense for the BRE na iwe.
Eng.Mech, you are spot on.building a rail line to Mongu is a political gamble but building one to NorthWestern Province makes sense especially connecting to Lobito bay in Angola makes economic scene. Prof Chirwa must concentrate on the core business of Zambia Railways so that the company becomes useful by transporting good such a Copper for Mopani and Kcm mines.The company can also haul Sugar from Mazabuka to Durban.The company must make its money instead of going with a big bowl to the Pf government for funding.Prof Chirwa can do it.
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So some Muppets are still advocating a colonial development strategy. Railways and roads should be built to connect all corners or regions of Zambia with one another. This will be a catalyst for development. It is primitive to build railroads for the sole purpose of shipping raw materials abroad. Roads and railways should serve people. Abash with primitive neocolonia thinking. Wake up people. Lets connect all provinces with highways and railroads!
Chirwa will face something similar to what Obama faced in 2008. Rail infrastructure has literally been decimated in some parts of the country (Luanshya is off the line of rail for example); slippers are dilapidated and a danger to any train moving on it. What Situmbeko must realize is that he took part in presiding on the decimating of the infrastructure – I suppose he seems sure of the damage they wrought on it. I am hopeful, however, that Chirwa will reverse most of the damage that has been done to the railway infrastructure in the country. WE WILL SUPPORT HIM PROVIDING HE DOESN’T BECOME LIKE THE PREVIOUS LEADERS…
Prof,so far less than 130 USD has been allocated to RSZ for next yr,so from your 3yr plan,which you said will require atleast 750 USD, knock off 1 yr with 120,The balance of 630 must be made availble in 2014 and 2015…Hope that will be possible,otherwise,you are living in utophia prof
Railways are the best mode of transport for bulk commodities e.g. mineral ores, processed metals, petroleum, timber, and grains. Also good for heavy engineering. Railways would enable a good logistics network for development of agriculture where we would need to move millions of tons of grain or some other agricultural commodities.
For passenger transport you need quite a dense population for return on investment – outside the current line of rail passenger transport would be difficult to justify since most of Zambia is sparsely populated.
@Nostradamus:
Are you serious, how does copper get shipped to Europe and Asia out of Zambia, and even the DRC, by air? Look, we now have a big problem maintaining our main highways/roads in Zambia because of the heavy pressure exerted on them by heavy duty cargo trucks every day. Some of this cargo is suited for rail transportation. If MMD did not f**k up the rail system, we would be talking about just upgrading the system than starting from square one.
Maybe in your limited capacity you think the only customers are passengers—the answer is a big NO! No rail system on earth can be sustained by the commuter or passenger side of the business. It is hauling heavy cargo that rail lines were invented for. And there is plenty of cargo to be hauled within and out of Zambia, right?
Just tu copper my friend, which can be easily loaded in trucks, and will use Nsanda highways.
South Africa have the largest number of trucks on their roads but they don’t complain of ROAD damage. it only happens in Zambia. were everything is difficult including masturbating…..
We Zambians are too pessimistic. No wonder we are where we are. Lets give the man a chance to prove his abilities. Looking at the way Zambians do things, i think the man is more exposed that most of you people. Its good to be realistic but give chance to those that have positive plans and attitude. Some people don’t even have the attitude he has. thats why they are failures.
@24, I meant to say: “Maybe in your limited capacity you think the only customers for the railways are passengers—the answer is big NO!”
pro chirwa cannot manage. mark my word. this needs people like HH to ru who understand business in zambia. Chirwa will fail and you will see what am saying. Chirwa is an academician and not a business man. to run RZL you need a businessman.wrong choice by sata and you will prove me.Hapunda would have done a better job.
What if he succeeds, are you going to hung yourself?
to hell with ka chi….ka hh .he sold lima bank,lintico,zccm,intercontinental hotel and several others.
Ask Chishimba Kambwili to bring back the sleepers.
Stop your tricks of dampening the morale of well-meaning people like Chirwa. The man enjoys challenges, and quite clearly the ZRL assignment is one which he relishes with gusto! Forward, prof!
I Pitty Dr Situmbeko.and all critics, first they are the same guys who prophesied that SATA can not make it to stae house, today its history. For a learned PhD fellow should know that even getting a PhD is an uphill battle but its not impossible, it takes one first step decision and commitment. Hard as it seemingly look, either way, we have no option but to surcrifice to have the rail line work. we shall not need foreigners to re-construct let alone even come and make our beds where we sleeep.
Musokotwane is a realist. You’re the one who is deluded. Resuscitating ZRL is an uphill battle. You need capital. The line itself is more than a 100 years old. You need a new one. Besides he has praised Chirwa that he is the right person for the job. So where is problem
. Did you want him to say it is a simple job when it is not?
PHD syndrome asusual.
Dr Situmbeko PLIZ donate to 3000 bicycles that were found at your house. Maybe it’ll ease the transportation problems in Zambia instead of you being a prophet of doom on ZRL.
So? STFU!
Mwishisha shilanya
So?
You think he doesn’t know? Most people know that.Â
Dr. Musokotwane, don’t state the obvious, and don’t just observe, offer solutions.Â
Dr. Situmkbeko is being polite to Professor Chirwa 3 year ambitions.
The truth is that what you all believe or wish will happen is totally irrelevant to the actual implementation of Chirwa’s dreams… unless you have money to donate or actual expertise to offer!
Chirwas real success will depend on properly executing a coherent business plan for ZR not on your wishes, dreams or so called “support”, which in reality is just a lot of hot air!
what has happened to musoko’s 1000 personal bicycles?
lol! PF cadres are a funny lot! So if you don’t accept Musokotwane’s observations, are you saying that you would have agreed with him if he had said the opposite? Let’s assume that he did that would you have accepted the following statement: Managing ZRL is not difficult. Afterall Chirwa is not even the right person to run it”
Is this what you would have accepted? Honestly, PF supporters do indeed give meaning to the word S.T.U.P.I.D!
Sela Tubombeko!
Sela ba kaponya bebeko!
we are in this mess because mmd did nothing in its 20 year rule to revamp the railways. If we had started with modernisation even ten years ago we would have a different system by now. It is good that Musokotwane recognises that Prof Chirwa has the right credentials. All he needs is support from government and patience from all of us because it will certainly take longer than 3 years to turn around the company
Just give support man everything is a challenge these days
Can the president of the Republic of Zambia explain to the people of Zambia when is the the corruption in the government going to end? Am in Botswana but am a Zambian national. I got surprised here with Zambian embassy charging it’s people who leave in Botswana for P100 per person before you are allowed to celebrate Independence at the Zambian embassy..
My question is does’t the Government allocate funds for such celebration? If it does! Why then does the embassy of Zambia in Botswana take money from as before we are allowed to celebrate for our independence.
Can the president please investigate this matter. I am a concerned Zambian and on behave of my fellow Zambian’s am here to tell the president that we are really tired of PF Government with the way is doing things in Zambia.
haha YOU ARE A MENTAL CASE. YOU WANT THE WHOLE PRESIDENT TO INVESTIGATE YOUR P100…LOL
stay home and celebrate, then you can save your 100 pula. Come on it’s obvious meant for the food and beer you can’t wait to dump down your throat
Chirwa’s biggest challenge will be Sata. He won’t allow professionals to work freely. There will be less funding and the workforce will be Sata’s relatives without qualifications! Muzanikumbukila. Mukanjibukisha. Chirwa is killed waiting for burial.
musokotwani you are jealousy, the Government will give him the support, wait and see
you just miss the job
Professor Chirwa is definetly succeeding Micheal after his two terms office – 2021. Please mark my words. It will either be Professor Chirwa or Nawakwi. He told Professor Chirwa that, “I know you want one day to be the presido of this republic. But i will straight away start preparing you. Your no.1 project is to rehabilitate the rail infracture and there after all the road net work in the country. By then all Zambians will be singing full praises to Micheal.
It is a challenge that Pro. Chirwa is taking on and is taking it in a true Zambian spirit. He needs all our support. Negative thinking will always hinder progress in our nation
Just put in place registeartion banning the transportation of heavy goods to and from thge mine, and you will see how ZR grows! Monoply chabe
i mean on the roads
THE BEST SLONGAN IS SELA TWIBEKA
while!! facts and figure is the way of an educated man, look at how much capital we need to bring ZR back to the modern effective system how much $$$……???,lt needs cash, govt will and time which we aint got, we have new unplaned for districts and provinces and bye-elections coming, jst be realistic comon sense not rocket science .
Prof chirwa will resign sooner than you people think. zambians are good at frustrating one another. The cabinet will play the biggest part of his frustration. Most ministers don’t understand or dont know what priorities for the country are. Most of our ministers are not well educated and I dont think most of them will treat this project as a priority. The other thing is that there is no money. Not long ago link zambia 8000 was launched do we have resources to run these two projects side by side? Educated people will most cases resign before shame catches up with them. We wish him well but the way thing are implemented raises a lot of doubts.
Dr. Situmbelo Musokotwane should give Prf. Clive Afoord Chirwa time to settle down and sort out th mess at ZRL. He was made Finance Minister by RB and (Situbeko) performed. All well meaning Zambians from all walks of like should have confidence in Prof. Clive Chirwa let him bring home his inetrnational expertise to Zambia for all to see. We urge President Sata to keep his cadres away from Pro. Chirwa. The question of huge capital investment is out as a nation we can manage to moblise resources that ar needed. imagine Zambia Railways Limited workshop in Kabwe has all machinery to do extral works such as molding engine blocks ect which we are importing. What a shame. in politics we have achieved alot then why cant we d same in technology and medicne etc.
In engineering you cant do everything. even , Air bus, toyota, NASA Apple Iphone get parts from all over the world. in fact apple don’t even manufacture the Iphone. I end there
Well all know that Proffesor Chirwa has serious presidential ambtion, so i think this appointment isa good platform for him to show what he can do. To win the peoples hearts he need to do a very good job at Zambia railways. The biggest challenge is were he wiil source the fund to re-capitalised railway systems of Zambia
#53 Me, Professor Chirwa is not like you, poor man. The man has connections and contacts around the global. And mind you, he is a well respectable person in Automobile and Euronautical Engineering around the global. So he is not as simple as your under5, HH.
For us engineers we talk numbers. If our rail line is 1000 km, and I have 1095 days, I am sure I can refurbish 1 km a day. I can order the engines and get them in 6 months. Side infrastructure can be done parallel to the above, after all foundations and most building are there. So why are some people think its not possible. All Prof needs is only money, period! People can work 24 hours and we have most of the resources as we have had railway systems running in Zambia. I am not a Railway engineer but as an engineer, I am sure its doable. Dont say it can not be done because you will be shamed when one does it. I wish I can sort this with prof, because I know it can be done. I am not looking for a job, as I have a good job, but it is to show how we must work, I can also take up such a challe
situmbeko we know you failed with yo chi rotten MMD, leave Chirwa to work?
What Dr Musokotwane is saying has sense in it. How many MAJOR plans does the PF Government have? Building over 100 schools and Universities, increasing salaries, 8000 link project, building clinics and hospitals all in 5 years and lets not forget that they now have 4 years. Where will this money come from? Even the USA in all it’s glory cannot make such crazy promises in such a short time. They went down in 8 short years fighting two wars abroad and a shaky economy back home.
Prof Chirwa says he needs $750 in three years, I do not see how government will approve that with all the projects that need huge cash injection. In three years he will need international companies to sign supplying agreements and MOU’s, Educate the current engineers, possibly some inside restructuring and all.
..And to you fellow Zambians who like to say support support. support tepakanwa fye. He needs money first then ‘support’.
Well done prof, will get moving with you all the way!
@54 Kazenki. You are quite right all those things are doable. But does the Prof have the leadership and management skills to succeed. Its not just about dishing out the $750m. In leadership you create a vision and inspire people to change their behaviour to achieve the vision.
But most of all its not just about physical infrastructure. There has to be a complete business plan based on the strategic goals of the company i.e. operations plan, marketing plan, human capital plan etc. How about external linkages Zimbabwe Rail, TAZARA? They are also dilapidated. You have to apply systems thinking here. Optimizing just a part of the system will not improve performance. You have to look at the whole system and understand its purpose.
I am sure that Chirwa is not insane, nor is he desperate for personal financial aggrandizement, I think he is more driven by the desire to develop Zambia. Even if he achieves 50% of his target in the set time, it will still be by far a remarkable accomplishment. He will most certainly make a monkey out of the charlatans and doomsayers who are convinced that it’s not possible to resuscitate ZR. And that’s what probably they are afraid of. If he succeeds, and he will, obviously they will look not smart after all. But if you have a heart and a burning desire to succeed you will. So because of those perceived hurdles along the way Chirwa is expected to just give up and go back to UK without even trying? Is this what they want?Â
@59 Eng Mech
Yes I agree with you that its not about infrastracture. All other areas should be put in place, and that is the main job that he has. Besides if one has a good business plan, money is not an issue. Any business that has potential will attract investment, whether local or foreign. Zambia has human capital, though there is need to upgrade skills, its in a few areas. What is important is that we have the capacity to do it. A mindset shift and believing in ourselves. I believe its very much doable and Prof Chirwa is not shooting from without but with some high level understanding.
On the linkages, I believe if we optimise our system, it will improve the way do business within our country. Lets do that as part of phase 1. We can do tge planning for that while we implement phase 1, but that should not stop us from doing what we need to do.
If done well, this project can provide an insite into other bigger projects we need as a country. This is not to say we should experiment, we are not reinventing the wheel.
Comprehensive development for this country cannot be biased towards the revamping the railways system only. Genuine development to serve the peoples of Zambia requires a network of good road infrastructures, build more schools and technical Colleges, the upgrade of three public universities to international standards & establish a university in each Province, establish more high quality health facilities where an aging Republican President can get the best medical care, develop export orientated agriculture, develop tourism to compete with South Africa. President Sata is already overwhelmed to addressing such national challenges It is in this regard that Dr. Musokotwane’s observations mean well. PF cadres are focused on diluting UPND to which Prof. Chirwa is a member.
What Dr.Musokotwane said may not really have been in bad taste its just that Dr.Musokotwane settles for mediocrity, he is used to be in a failed state of affairs with no ability to cause change. That’s why the budgets he presented, did not really help the Zambian people. He used to think of investors first rather than Zambians first. Its his way of thinking. For him having development in Zambia is not possible. Its not his fault its the way of thinking of many Zambians who think that investors are the one who can develop Zambia. This is a sad fact.However, I for one believes that Prof. Chirwa will succeed in achieving this goal in three years time and the Roads the PF have started working on will also be complete within the five years they mentioned. We have a working government.
Am excited but at the same time concerned Chirwa is the right man to do the job but we have challenges 3 years to turn around a collapsed company in a Zambian setting is almost impossible due to many factors including the money he will need over $3 Billion Dollars, Where will the money come from PF already has over a dozen projects before foreign Govts and banks looking for financing.Chirwa you will make it but it will be over a long period of time.
I like this web site very much, Its a really nice office to read and get information. “There’s nothing I’m afraid of like scared people.” by Robert Frost.