The Business Weekly & Review has established Air Botswana General Manager (GM) and the board submitted a comprehensive turnaround strategy to cabinet that suggested refleeting the airline, adding more destinations, a vigorous marketing for Air Botswana and ICT Automation, which cabinet seemed to have ignored in its plot to fire the GM, Writes BOITSHEPO MAJUBE and KEABETSWE NEWEL.
Last week, this publication had a chat with Tozivazvipi Ben Dhawa, the sacked GM in a quest to comprehend what the government-owned entity needs to stay afloat. His response was short. “I need refleeting as a matter of urgency,” he said.
His stance was that without re-fleeting, Air Botswana will continue with its perennial losses. Dhawa said he diagnosed the national airline, came up with a strategy and submitted it to cabinet (through his ministry) for approval, which he awaits. Little did he know that his fate was around the corner. Observers will be left wondering as to the whereabouts of the strategy, which Dhawa and his team extensively discussed in the public arena from the first few months of his tenure. The minister does not even mention the strategy in this current media engagements explaining the sacking of the Zimbabwean corporate head.
However, after Dahwa and the Board were dismissed The Business Weekly & Review contacted the Transport and Communications Minister, Tshenolo Mabeo who this week came out guns blazing castigating the top management of Air Botswana and the Board for abject failure to effectively run the state airline.
Mabeo told this reporters that he fired Dhawa because he failed to bring efficiency at the airliner. The visibly unhappy minister revealed that he had to dissolve the Board of Directors because they were failing in their duty to provide oversight to management.
“I have been observing him,” he said in a rare show of candor. The minister said in the contract which Dhawa was given, there were clear expectations that as a GM he should bring efficiency and implement a stable ICT automation and relevant human resources to deliver the mandate of the national airliner.
He said Dhawa failed to bring good operational processes that would ensure efficiency in doing business. “Air Botswana is lacking in that respect,” he said.
At a time when he was employed, Air Botswana was a troubled quasi-government entity, which lacked consistency in flight times and schedules, while its aged flights had engine problems and landing gear failures. The airliner has been craving re-capitalization, which government has not availed to this date. The Business Weekly & Review asked Mabeo if a delay in re-capitalization failed Dhawa. His answer is that re-capitalizing would not on itself bring efficiency and excellence, but rather a visionary leadership with a good strategy would do.
Mabeo said that since his ministry had set targets for the CEO and the Board, he interacted with them where he expressed his displeasure at the failure to meet targets. “I called the CEO a number of times and told him that he should pick up his socks because he was failing. So I had to take this drastic decision to part ways with him because there were no results,” he said. This is despite that Dhawa had submitted a strategy to Mabeo and his peers, which in theory addressed all challenges besieging the airline, but the political powers sat on resources.
Interestingly, Air Botswana under the sacked Dhawa had improved it’s on- time performance (within a reasonable time) which is currently said to be at 93 percent, which the Minister applauded at a different platform a week back. Mabeo himself addressed the media just a week back, where he said that at 93 percent, Air Botswana’s on-time performance was 14 percent higher than the average record. Despite mentioning that the airlinealso needs to improve its ICT capability, he generally gave the media an impression that Air Botswana was on the right direction, under the stewardship of the Dahwa.
Competitors like South African Airways (SAA), Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways have flooded Botswana skies, slowly taking over the opportunities in the local market.
However, this week without mincing his words, Mabeo said that he would not re-capitalize parastatal at a time when it was in the ‘wrong hands’, to him it would be wastage. “If he had worked with what he had and made an impression, we would have felt the pressure to fund the re-capitalization with a surety that the right strategy and oversight would ensure efficiency at the airline” he argued. He said under the current state-of-affairs, government would not re-capitalize Air Botswana.
While a decision to re-capitalise is moving at a snail pace, competitors like South African Airways (SAA), Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways have flooded Botswana skies, slowly taking over the opportunities in the local market.
Apparently, Dhawa’s plan to introduce new routes, was to actually counter such competition and to also increase Air Botswana activity in a quest to rake in increased revenue.
It appears that already, the political powers have identified their preferred candidate, who sources suspect that as soon as he takes over, resources will be rolled out. Interestingly, the new appointee will have to implement the same strategy that Dhawa submitted to cabinet which he never got feedback from.
Mabeo did not reveal who exactly is he appointing as a new CEO, but he emphasized that he is bringing in a Motswana to take over the hot seat.
“We are moving quickly to hire a substantive CEO however, in a short period of time,” Mabeo promised.
After a new CEO is found Mabeo said re-capitalization would quickly be rolled out to ensure that air transportation becomes effective. He said Air Botswana is an economic enabler by creating ease of access to various places especially in the tourism sector.
Air Botswana’s Finance Manager, Agnes Khunwane, has been appointed to hold fort until a substantive acting General Manager is appointed.
Air Botswana Chairman Nigel Dixon-Warren said he was not aware that the Minister was contemplating such a bold decision. “I was only informed yesterday, and I was not involved in the decision making,” he said. The board was also dissolved and at the moment, meaning Dixon-Warren’s term was abruptly terminated the same day his CEO was dismissed.
Quizzed on why he decided to dissolve the Board of Directors, Mabeo said the board lacked proper oversight and implementation of a strategy that could transform Air Botswana. The minister said he also has been in contact with the board and has shared his displeasureabout their failures. “I also told the board to up its game, but it has also failed,” he said. After, appointing a new CEO, Mabeo said a new board will also be appointed. He promised that new faces will adorn the new board.