Energy and Power Development Minister Fortune Chasi has directed the board of power utility, Zesa, to investigate issues of conflict of interest around its chairman Sydney Gata.

Gata was appointed to his current position last November, which in itself was a controversy after his unceremonial departures from the same entity in 1995 and 2006.

In a letter to the board, Minister Chasi gave it 5 days to commence investigations into allegations of corruption.

Reads part of the letter:

“(Y)ou are directed, as the Board to immediately institute investigations in the allegations against Dr. Gata and take the necessary steps in terms of all the relevant laws.

“In particular, the Ministry requires information on: –
• the lawsuits between Dr. Gata and ZESA Holdings and whether or not they were declared to the Board, as the Ministry is not aware of any such declaration;
• the allocation of five company vehicles for Dr. Gata’s personal use;
the alleged interference in a disciplinary hearing involving Mrs. Norah Tsomomdo,
• the alleged transactions involving Tuli and a trust, whose registration and ownership is unknown to the Ministry; the issue concerning the four consultants for whom Cabinet Authority was sought to travel to South Africa for a study tour at Eskom. There is need to establish whether or Towards Energy Reliability
not these individuals are on ZESA’s payroll and if not, the basis upon which they were engaged;
any other conduct that the Board finds appropriate to investigate.
The allegations appearing in the press are of a serious nature, which do not only put ZESA Holdings in bad light, but the entire Government and the Ministry in particular.”

Gata was fired as Zesa general manager in 1995, then again in 2006 as executive chairman of the same entity.