By A Correspondent- The newly appointed Zesa Holdings board chairman, Sydney Gata, has admitted that his task and that of fellow appointees of reviving the local power utility was difficult given the challenges bedeviling parastatal.

Gata observed that the parastatal was grounded due to brain drain and corruption hence the need for fellow appointees to start working hard towards the attainment of set goals and objectives.

Speaking during a familiarisation meeting with Energy and Power Development Minister, Fortune Chasi on Wednesday, Chasi said:

It’s no secret that the parastatal is depleted, a number of engineers migrated to neighbouring countries where they are believed to be contributing to successful power generation projects.

Our task ahead is a difficult one and I am asking each member of the board to be presently minded. I am urging my team to be hands on and obviously fight corruption since the rot is known to be existing in parastatals and always begins from the top.

Gata, who is the brother-in-law of the late former president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe was fired from the local power utility in 2006 for alleged incompetence and was only rehired this month.

Chasi has since defended his re-appointment saying that the state of ZESA needed an experienced individual and Gata’s profile was a perfect match for the job.

-StateMedia