The Guvnor
2nd Oct 2001, 00:47
Free Tickets Scam At Airzim
Financial Gazette
September 27, 2001
Posted to the web September 28, 2001
By Staff Reporter
Harare
FRESH allegations of rampant corruption and improper conduct have surfaced at struggling state airline Air Zimbabwe where globe-trotting board members and top executives are being accused of elbowing out confirmed passengers and issuing free tickets to friends.
One of the accused senior executives confirmed to the Financial Gazette this week that at least one flight to London was forced to leave behind 32 paying and confirmed passengers to accommodate board members and senior executives.
Other sources said paying passengers had been left behind on several occasions to make room for board members, senior managers and their spouses and children.
The executives are also alleged to have fraudulently earned thousands of dollars after illegally converting their hard currency allowances for travelling outside the country on the local black market.
According to official documents shown to this newspaper, the airline's officials are paid allowances in convertible currencies such as United States dollars and British pounds when travelling to foreign destinations.
Board chairman Patrick Chingoka yesterday vehemently dismissed charges that his board had allowed rampant misconduct at the airline, saying it had actually done a lot of work to turn around the troubled airline.
"This time last year the airline was operating on an overdraft and was running at a loss, but in the past six months we have achieved positive results so much so that we are not operating on an overdraft. We are able to service all our requirements in local and foreign currency," Chingoka said.
But inside sources said Chingoka himself was one of the culprits implicated in the abuse of facilities and had travelled in the last 11 months to Britain, South Africa, Italy and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), sometimes just to tour Air Zimbabwe offices.
According to documents shown to this newspaper, Chingoka was paid a total 1 574.50 British pounds as allowances when he travelled to Britain and Italy in December last year and May this year. For the trip to the DRC last month, he received an allowance of US$570.
Chingoka said he had travelled to Air Zimbabwe's offices abroad to get first-hand information on how they were operating and the problems they were facing and had filed reports on the trips to his board.
"All these visits have yielded positive results for the airline," Chingoka said, adding: "How I am supposed to chair an airline when I do not have first-and information of what is going on in the area under my jurisdiction?"
According to the sources, eight passengers were left behind by the airline on its Harare to London flight of August 27, allegedly to make room for its general manager for marketing, Denis Maravanyika, who was travelling with seven members of his family on free tickets.
Maravanyika had also last month sanctioned free tickets from London to Zimbabwe to five officials of a London travelling agency.
Maravanyika, who together with his wife and children is entitled to free air tickets under his contract of employment with Air Zimbabwe, strenuously denied that paying passengers had to be left behind to accommodate his family.
"I did not at all cause anyone to be left behind. When I got to the airport, I proceeded to buy departure stamps only after checking with the manager on duty that day," he said.
Maravanyika, who said he only learnt when he got to London that some passengers had been left behind in Harare, said there were people out to tarnish his image by choosing to only highlight his August trip to London while ignoring trips by other airline officials that resulted in passengers being left behind.
"Why are they not talking, for example, about flight UM724 when a number of board members travelled to London and 32 passengers were left behind?" he said.
Maravanyika said Air Zimbabwe was participating in national efforts to resuscitate the tourism sector and these included the issuing of tickets to travel agents and holiday consultants, especially from important markets such as London, for them to see for themselves the improved situation in the country.
Chingoka said the airline's position was that passengers came first and that Maravanyika's case was being looked into and that if there was any misconduct action would be taken.
According to other sources, Air Zimbabwe is losing money and its reputation has been tainted because confirmed passengers find themselves without seats due to the huge number of the airline's executives and workers who are constantly travelling.
"The airline is operating virtually without its top executives as they are always travelling to attend conferences and conventions. You would think they are also pilots with the way they fly," one worker said.
Some workers at the airline who are entitled to free tickets or heavily discounted ones - reduced by as much as 75 percent of the cost - were also taking the joy rides on Air Zimbabwe flights, especially on the popular Harare-London destination.
The airline sometimes leaves Harare with as many as 30 members of staff on board, including even former workers, the sources said.
Other sources however said the situation had recently normalised, with planes to London now expected to carry a maximum of 10 workers a flight.
Financial Gazette
September 27, 2001
Posted to the web September 28, 2001
By Staff Reporter
Harare
FRESH allegations of rampant corruption and improper conduct have surfaced at struggling state airline Air Zimbabwe where globe-trotting board members and top executives are being accused of elbowing out confirmed passengers and issuing free tickets to friends.
One of the accused senior executives confirmed to the Financial Gazette this week that at least one flight to London was forced to leave behind 32 paying and confirmed passengers to accommodate board members and senior executives.
Other sources said paying passengers had been left behind on several occasions to make room for board members, senior managers and their spouses and children.
The executives are also alleged to have fraudulently earned thousands of dollars after illegally converting their hard currency allowances for travelling outside the country on the local black market.
According to official documents shown to this newspaper, the airline's officials are paid allowances in convertible currencies such as United States dollars and British pounds when travelling to foreign destinations.
Board chairman Patrick Chingoka yesterday vehemently dismissed charges that his board had allowed rampant misconduct at the airline, saying it had actually done a lot of work to turn around the troubled airline.
"This time last year the airline was operating on an overdraft and was running at a loss, but in the past six months we have achieved positive results so much so that we are not operating on an overdraft. We are able to service all our requirements in local and foreign currency," Chingoka said.
But inside sources said Chingoka himself was one of the culprits implicated in the abuse of facilities and had travelled in the last 11 months to Britain, South Africa, Italy and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), sometimes just to tour Air Zimbabwe offices.
According to documents shown to this newspaper, Chingoka was paid a total 1 574.50 British pounds as allowances when he travelled to Britain and Italy in December last year and May this year. For the trip to the DRC last month, he received an allowance of US$570.
Chingoka said he had travelled to Air Zimbabwe's offices abroad to get first-hand information on how they were operating and the problems they were facing and had filed reports on the trips to his board.
"All these visits have yielded positive results for the airline," Chingoka said, adding: "How I am supposed to chair an airline when I do not have first-and information of what is going on in the area under my jurisdiction?"
According to the sources, eight passengers were left behind by the airline on its Harare to London flight of August 27, allegedly to make room for its general manager for marketing, Denis Maravanyika, who was travelling with seven members of his family on free tickets.
Maravanyika had also last month sanctioned free tickets from London to Zimbabwe to five officials of a London travelling agency.
Maravanyika, who together with his wife and children is entitled to free air tickets under his contract of employment with Air Zimbabwe, strenuously denied that paying passengers had to be left behind to accommodate his family.
"I did not at all cause anyone to be left behind. When I got to the airport, I proceeded to buy departure stamps only after checking with the manager on duty that day," he said.
Maravanyika, who said he only learnt when he got to London that some passengers had been left behind in Harare, said there were people out to tarnish his image by choosing to only highlight his August trip to London while ignoring trips by other airline officials that resulted in passengers being left behind.
"Why are they not talking, for example, about flight UM724 when a number of board members travelled to London and 32 passengers were left behind?" he said.
Maravanyika said Air Zimbabwe was participating in national efforts to resuscitate the tourism sector and these included the issuing of tickets to travel agents and holiday consultants, especially from important markets such as London, for them to see for themselves the improved situation in the country.
Chingoka said the airline's position was that passengers came first and that Maravanyika's case was being looked into and that if there was any misconduct action would be taken.
According to other sources, Air Zimbabwe is losing money and its reputation has been tainted because confirmed passengers find themselves without seats due to the huge number of the airline's executives and workers who are constantly travelling.
"The airline is operating virtually without its top executives as they are always travelling to attend conferences and conventions. You would think they are also pilots with the way they fly," one worker said.
Some workers at the airline who are entitled to free tickets or heavily discounted ones - reduced by as much as 75 percent of the cost - were also taking the joy rides on Air Zimbabwe flights, especially on the popular Harare-London destination.
The airline sometimes leaves Harare with as many as 30 members of staff on board, including even former workers, the sources said.
Other sources however said the situation had recently normalised, with planes to London now expected to carry a maximum of 10 workers a flight.