Harare – Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) scheme chair, Andy Lawson on Thursday said the Government’s recent move to place the coal miner under Reconstruction was a violation of the law as key stakeholders were never consulted.
Earlier this week Government placed the colliery company under Reconstruction which it said is provided for under the Reconstruction Act.
The law allows government to temporarily takeover the running of a company’s operations if convinced there may be risk of closure due to bad management.
In the published Government Gazette, Bekithemba Moyo, the co-founder and director of DBF Capital was appointed the new administrator of the mine during its Reconstruction period while Mutsa Mollie Jean Remba, who is the current managing director of Dube, Manikai and Hwacha was appointed the assistant administrator with Munashe Shava who is the chief operating officer and project leader at the Great Dyke Investments.
However, presenting oral evidence on the Parliamentary Committee on Mines and Energy on Thursday, Lawson said the government’s directive is illegal.
“Entities that qualify for such a placement must be state enterprises and not parastatals,” Lawson said.
“While government is the major shareholder, there are other stakeholders like the public who were not consulted. In my opinion, such a move is illegal,” he said.
He added that he as the HCCL Chair he was never consulted about the arrangement.
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