Picking up Pieces of Good Corporate Governance to Sustain National Railways of Zimbabwe

Abstract

Zimbabwe’s state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have a significant role to play in providing service delivery for basics like electricity, health, water, transport and communication. With such socio-economic importance, it is imperative that any SOE should be, transparent, accountable, effective, efficient, profitable and sustainable. However, incompetent performance has stalked most of the country’s SOEs and the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) has not been an exception. It has been caught up with successive failures and forced to rely heavily on grants from government for its sustainability. This study sought to identify the challenges in the NRZ and suggest measures to solve them and sustain the entity. A descriptive research design was employed based on a critical review and analysis of extant literature. The information and data used in this study were obtained mainly from the audit reports, research and media reports on this enterprise. Issues of governance, accountability and transparency are examined. Polices in place for good corporate governance and monitoring meant to provide guidance, and sustainability are critiqued. In light of the challenges and gaps identified in running the NRZ, recommendations to revamp the system operations are given. A field for further research is suggested which could direct future management controls.