The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) General Manager, Respina Zinyanduko, has left the parastatal after three years in the role.
Zinyanduko, a lawyer, was appointed as NRZ’s substantive general manager in December 2021, after acting in the role since February of that year.
She made history as the first woman to hold the position in the 124-year history of the railways.
In a statement on Friday, NRZ said Zinyanduko’s departure was due to the need to realign and restructure the business in line with shareholder expectations.
Ainah Dube-Kaguru has been appointed as Acting General Manager, effective January 31, 2025, until a new substantive General Manager is appointed. The statement reads:
<blockquote>
The Board of Directors of the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) wishes to inform members of the public that Ms. Respina Zinyanduko has ceased to be the General Manager of the NRZ with effect from 31 January 2025.
This has been necessitated by the need to realign and restructure the NRZ business in line with the expectation of the shareholder.
The NRZ Board, Management and Staff would like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Zinyanduko for the time she served as General Manager of the National Railways of Zimbabwe and wish her well in her future endeavours.
In the interim, the Board has appointed Mrs. Ainah Dube-Kaguru as the Acting General Manager with effect from 31 January 2025 until a substantive General Manager has been appointed.
</blockquote>
Former trade unionist and opposition politician Linda Masarira commended the NRZ for replacing a woman with another in the role of General Manager. She wrote on X:
<blockquote>
It is commendable that the appointing authority has ensured continuity in women’s leadership by replacing one woman with another.
This is a progressive step towards gender inclusivity in key leadership positions.
Furthermore, we acknowledge the long-overdue decision to relieve Ms. Respina Zinyanduko of her duties.
Her tenure was marred by allegations of unethical conduct, which significantly compromised the integrity and efficiency of NRZ.
The decision to realign and restructure the institution is a welcome development that should be followed by a thorough audit and accountability process to restore public confidence.
We urge the new Acting General Manager to prioritize transparency, efficiency, and stakeholder engagement in steering NRZ towards recovery and stability.
The railway sector remains a critical pillar of our economy, and we hope this change marks the beginning of much-needed reforms.
</blockquote>

Pindula News

Respina Zinyanduko has left her job as the General Manager of NRZ after three years. She was the first woman to hold this position in the history of the railways. Ainah Dube-Kaguru has been appointed as the new Acting General Manager. Some people are happy that another woman is in charge, but others think Zinyanduko should have left earlier due to allegations of bad behavior. The NRZ wants to make changes to be better and more transparent. They hope these changes will help the railway sector and the country's economy.

Respina Zinyanduko Leaves NRZ, Dube-Kaguru Appointed Acting General Manager

The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) has determined that a fire which destroyed 40 decommissioned coaches at its main station in Bulawayo in September may have been caused by a cigarette stub left by an employee, reported <a href="https://www.newzimbabwe.com/cigarette-stub-started-fire-that-destroyed-decommissioned-coaches-worth-us40000-nrz/">NewZimbabwe.com</a>.
Initially, the parastatal suspected foul play, as the incident followed another fire involving coaches in Harare, raising suspicions of arson.
However, NRZ general manager Respina Zinyanduko, appearing before the Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts, revealed that internal investigations suggest the fire was likely caused by a discarded cigarette stub. She said:
<blockquote>
The initial report that I got from loss control as well as the report I got from a commission of inquiry that we set, it constituted of different departments of NRZ has indicated that it could be a fire was as a result of some employees, because we do not allow some people to smoke at work, some employees could have taken shelter in those coaches trying to hide and smoking a bit.
One of them might have left a stub that was still burning and there was the wind; it then resulted in the spread of fire.
</blockquote>
Zinyanduko told the Committee that the decommissioned coaches had surpassed their operational lifespan and were awaiting disposal as scrap.
Due to the fire, the NRZ incurred a loss of US$40,000 in the value of these coaches. Said Zinyanduko:
<blockquote>
The value that was lost was minimal because we had taken the seats from these coaches and they were fitted to those which were operational.
These were more like shells that were parked to be refurbished in the future or disposed of.
The value that was there was on the scrap value of the assets, I examined the coaches one by one myself and they are still in a condition in which we can dispose of them as scrap metal.
Those coaches in our books were carrying a value of about US$1,000 each because they were just shells.
</blockquote>
More: <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/">Pindula News</a>

A fire destroyed 40 old train coaches in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. At first, people thought it was done on purpose, but it turns out it might have been caused by a cigarette stub left by an employee. The train company, NRZ, lost $40,000 because of the fire, but the coaches were old and already useless. The company had plans to dispose of them as scrap. It was a big loss, but not as big as it could have been.

Discarded Cigarette Stub May Have Caused Fire That Destroyed 40 NRZ Coaches In Bulawayo

South Africa has banned Zimbabwean trains from its territory stating that the old wagons raise a high risk of derailment.
The ban was confirmed by <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/National_Railways_of_Zimbabwe">National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ)</a> general manager <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Respina_Zinyanduko">Ms Respina Zinyanduko</a> Monday while answering questions before Parliament’s Transport Portfolio Committee. Zinyanduko said:
<blockquote>
The challenge about our failure to send our wagons to South Africa is that our wagons are old.
Because the wagons are old, SA does not want them on their rail lines because they say they have a high risk of derailment because of their age. They do not want to risk damaging their tracks.
If you look at other countries like DRC, Zambia, Botswana and Mozambique, our wagons are going all the way to these countries without any challenges.
So, the only challenge with SA is our wagons. They say if we buy new wagons, they will allow them into SA.
Their wagons (SA) are actually coming into Zimbabwe. Because our wagons are sub-standard, NRZ is now using SA’s wagons to carry goods to SA.
</blockquote>
Zinyanduko added that NRZ’s railway system needed new wagons as most of its equipment had gone beyond its average life span of 40 years.
She said of the 68 mainline locomotives, 14 of these were not working and the rest needed upgrading or replacement. Zinyanduko added:
<blockquote>
Most of them have outlived their 25 years life span. Wagons have also outlived their 40-year life span and most had gone beyond 60 years.
</blockquote>
Over the years, the company which is wholly owned by the government claimed to have entered into deals with some international companies including <a href="https://zero.pindula.co.zw/turkish-company-starts-implementing-phase-1-of-nrz-deal/">Yapi Merkezi, a Turkish company</a>, in a bid to recapitalise and modernise the nation’s railway system.
There is no notable transformation to date.
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