Mwinyi demands public entities to operate profitably

ZANZIBAR President Dr Hussein Mwinyi on Wednesday tasked public corporations to transform themselves, operate profitably and provide superb services to the islanders.

President Mwinyi warned that public entities risk privatisation if they fail to devise and execute appropriate business strategies, saying the government will no longer tolerate the burden of loss making organisations.

“We want all public entities to cope with the speed of the eighth phase government by opening a new chapter of discipline, hard work, profitability and reliable services to wananchi–all that the people want is quality services,” Dr Mwinyi told the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of public entities at a meeting he hosted at the Vuga-based State House.

He told the CEOs to evaluate themselves and the services they provide, warning them against sluggish performance. He demanded transformative strategies and hasty reforms to improve the quality and reliability of services to wananchi as well as boost government productivity.

The president gave the CEOs a leeway to institute performance reforms and improvements for the public interest wherever they see things are not moving appropriately.

He particularly tasked service organisations to immediately solve the challenges that haunt wananchi and transform them into opportunities with high productivity.

Dr Mwinyi made reference to Zanzibar Water Authority (ZAWA) and Zanzibar Electricity Corporation (ZECO), whose services he said touch the lives of people directly, saying it’s not enough to provide services without generating profit for sustainable service delivery.

He directed the heads of the two public utility firms to evaluate themselves and the services they provide and see why they fail to make profit.

President Mwinyi ordered the firms to change and offer high quality, reliable and sustainable services to wananchi through hard work and application of investment strategies to avoid loss making in their operations.

Dr Mwinyi advised ZAWA and ZECO to come up with new work plan by reviewing the source of their problems and hastily look for possible solutions.

President Mwinyi discouraged ZAWA from powering their water pumps with ZECO electricity and instead, encouraged them to use solar power to avoid frequent pump defaults that subject wananchi to unnecessary woes of dry taps.

He directed autonomous corporations to look for funds to invest in profitable operations for their own interest and that of the government.

The president denounced underperforming organisations, saying more investment is required for them to operate commercially.

“If you have been entrusted with the corporation and you see things are not moving, change them for the sake of productivity and public benefit…if you don’t have the capacity, come back for assistance,” President Mwinyi directed.

He said there is no justification for public corporations to operate under loss, proposing their privatisation should they fail to make profits.

Dr Mwinyi cited Zanzibar Airport Authority (ZAA), which had been operating under loss for many years, compelling the government to subsidise its staff salaries but has since started generating profit after the entry of private investors.

The president advised entities like Zanzibar Insurance Corporation and Zanzibar Multiplex Company to scout for investments and operate profitably in the competitive market.

President Mwinyi accused the Zanzibar Housing Corporation of failure to renovate its houses since they were constructed in 1972.

“You pretend to own houses at Michenzani, Kilimani and Kikwajuni, but those are no longer houses, they all need heavy repairs and reconstruction; the corporation should be able to renovate, construct new houses and operate commercially,” he said.

He asked the housing corporation to device a strategic plan showing the budget for the house renovation and improvement or construction of new houses with their investment repayment for the houses to create productivity.

Dr Mwinyi directed Zanzibar State Trading Corporation to work out sustainable production strategies and ensure only clean cloves are bought to avoid subjecting the government to unnecessary losses.