"We're Just Asking The Nation To Give Us A Chance To Deliver," New Cottco Board

The newly appointed Cottco board has asked for the nation’s patience as it intends to revive the collapsed parastatal. The board was appointed by the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement Minister Perrance Shiri last week and half of the members are women.

The Deputy Chairperson of the board, Dr Onai Muvingi (OM), spoke to Sunday Mail’s Fatima Bulla (FB) in an interview and said that the board will learn from the parastatals’ failures and success stories as it moves forward. Below are excerpts from the interview.

FB: Cottco is a key parastatal in dire need of revival, how exactly do you plan to restore it to its past glory?

OM: It is always a challenge. It is like a clay pot which has been broken and you are asked to mend it. We acknowledge those who moulded Cottco, they had a vision. I think in such circumstances you should actually say to yourself where did it break down; learn lessons from there. It is always difficult to critique what might have happened in the past without knowing what it is. For us to try and avoid the same mistakes we should always learn from other people’s mistakes. I think it is folly to repeat the same mistakes of the past, so Cottco is a challenge because people are watching, people know the level that Cottco can reach and they are looking at you and saying, “Is this a waste of time? Are you really going to be able to do it, are you going to manage?”