NRZ struggles to manage properties

 THE National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) is losing potential revenue, estimated in tens of thousands of dollars, due to its inability to effectively control and manage its vast properties across the country.

The parastatal is struggling with the challenge of securing and leveraging its extensive real estate assets, which are currently underutilised or mismanaged.

The properties, scattered throughout the country represent a substantial potential revenue stream that NRZ has not been able to fully capitalise on.

The lack of control and proper management over these assets is impacting the organisation’s financial stability and its ability to invest in crucial railway infrastructure and operations.

Effective management and strategic utilisation of these assets could provide a significant boost to the parastatal’s revenue, helping to address its financial challenges.

NRZ is arguably the richest State-owned enterprise in the country in terms of immovable assets.

Last year NRZ formed an asset verification committee comprising its various departments to identify and verify assets after some of its properties were not being accounted for.

Briefing the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructural Development during a tour of the organisation’s properties in Victoria Falls last Friday, NRZ general manager Ms Respina Zinyanduko said they managed to recover several properties along the Gwanda railway line and four houses in Bulawayo.

In Victoria Falls, besides vast pieces of land and properties along the railway line, NRZ jointly owns the Victoria Falls Hotel and Victoria Falls Bridge with Zambia Railways through Emerged Railways Properties.

The NRZ also owns Landela Complex, a property that has three blocks that house several shops among other businesses in the tourism sector.

The property is one of the assets NRZ is struggling to repossess after leasing it out to Landela Safari Adventure (Pvt) Limited in 2007.

NRZ initially leased the property to Landela Safari and later amended it into a joint venture.

The lease and joint venture agreement expired last year but NRZ has been failing to repossess the property after Landela Safari owner, Mr Steward Cranswick took the matter to the High Court where it is still pending.

Landela Complex also runs Landela Lodge in Masue. In 2016, the company made headlines after the owners erected a fence on part of Chamabondo Forest in what is now being developed into Masue City by the Government.

Ms Zinyanduko told the Portfolio Committee that because of the dispute over the Landela Complex, NRZ did not renew the lease it entered with the safari company upon its expiry last November.

“The lease was converted into a joint venture and ever since the NRZ has not been paid. The joint venture agreement and lease expired in November last year and NRZ tried on different occasions to engage Landela who did not attend board meetings,” she said.

“We are going for arbitration, so this is one of the challenges we have.”
Ms Zinyanduko said given the issue is still before the courts, she could not give more details.

“We realised that NRZ has a lot of properties, and some of them are in the asset register, but could not account who exactly is on the asset. We formed a joint committee which has so far done the southern region and we have recovered quite a lot of properties,” she said.

“Some of them were in private hands for some time and we are glad that we have managed to recover a lot of them in Gwanda line and also Bulawayo where we recovered four houses that were leased a long time ago by employees who then retired and never surrendered the assets.”

NRZ had a similar agreement with Hyde Safaries at Kennedy Annex Farm, which it has since revised and it is now getting rentals.

“These are lessons learnt that where we don’t have control it doesn’t work. Going forward we are amending these joint ventures,” Ms Zinyanduko told the committee.

The Portfolio Committee chairperson, Cde Knowledge Kaitano expressed concern over the development.

“We have realised that NRZ has vast assets which can provide a lot of capital injection that is required to revitalise the company. However, we have been told that certain properties have been rented for over 25 years by individuals who are getting rentals from properties which are not theirs,” he said.

“We have urged NRZ to ensure that they recover all the assets because they are a good source of capital injection into the revitalisation of the company. We want NRZ to be an enabler of economic activity that contributes to the growth of our economy, development of our people and realisation of an upper-middle -income by 2030.”

Source: NRZ struggles to manage properties (25th July 2024)