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Tonderai Rutsito Techspot
On May 3 NetOne advertised 24 top new posts which set the tone for a major management shake-up. A source close to the organisation said interviews for the posts have already been completed with announcements of results expected to be made soon.

The new structure, however, raises more questions than answers as some posts could result in duplications.

Under the proposed structure there will be a Chief Operations Officer reporting to the Chief Executive who replaces the Managing Director while a new Chief Finance Officer shall replace the Finance Director, who also reports to the Chief Executive.

Ironically, there is a position for a Financial Executive who will report directly to the Chief Operating Officer and another for Head of Corporate Finance who reports to the CFO.

There are also two new posts for Head of Management Accounting and Financial Accounting all reporting to the CFO.

NetOne board chairman Mr Alex Marufu said the decision to overhaul the management structure was made because the enterprise was not performing.

“We strongly believe that the performance of the business has to improve and NetOne is capable of doing more,” said Mr Marufu.

The NetOne chairman said that the fact that Government has not invested any capital into NetOne should not be an excuse for not performing since they rode on many Government benefits which helped them to operate.

“Although the Government may not have invested into NetOne, it is common knowledge that NetOne borrowed loans with the Government as their surety and backing, hence it is within our interest to demand the expected returns in revenue and profitability from the entity,” he said.

Mr Marufu also downplayed their perceived tiff with the State Procurement Board by calling it a necessary evil. “I would never say the SPB cripples production, this is the best system that we need to make sure that funds are not abused, of course information may be leaked with or without the SPB, but what we gathered is that NetOne was not providing complete information to the SPB hence the delay in execution.

“This is one area we will swiftly work on, we have polished proposals and strategies that will sail through swiftly, without any unnecessarily delays, NetOne will be more innovative in new products, and we have a new way of getting the products faster to the market so that we increase revenue,” he said.

NetOne had, however, earlier on indicated their plans to roll out the first nation-wide 5G or LTE coverage, in Zimbabwe. Yes, Econet broke the ice with their 4G, but to date the coverage still only covers some few selected spots which basically attract tourists in Zimbabwe.

• The writer is the editor for TechnoMag, Zimbabwe’s premier technology magazine. More in-depth from www.technomag.co.zw or follow us on Twitter at TechnoMagZw and on www.facebook.com/technomagzw