The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) board is reluctant to re-tender the entity’s US$400 million recapitalisation deal as directed by the Minister of Transport Joel Biggie Matiza.
The NRZ Board is wary of implementing the minister’s directive for fear of legal action by the Diaspora Infrastructure Development Group (DIDG).
The Independent’s source corroborated those concerns that the board has in regards to the re-tendering of the deal.
The board is well aware of the legal implications of carrying through minister Matiza’s directive to re-tender the project.
The board is mindful that an insolvent NRZ cannot afford to be dragged to court, in what appears to be a protracted lawsuit against the well-resourced consortium.
This is why there is a lot of hesitancy on the part of the board to re-tender the project in line with the cabinet decision. However, there are other considerations apart from the legal consequences.
In October, Cabinet made the decision to cancel the NRZ’s US$400 million tender awarded to DIDG in 2017 but the consortium instructed its lawyers, Atherstone and Cook Legal Practitioners, to file a US$215 million lawsuit against the parastatal.