flyAfrica had extended its route network to Namibia after starting off with the Harare- Johannesburg and Harare-Victoria Falls routes.
IN a fresh twist to the troubles rocking flyAfrica.com, a top executive has claimed that a family member of its sacked Zimbabwean partners stole US$140 000, triggering the fallout that grounded flights last week.
flyAfrica has made temporary arrangements to fly its passengers in Zimbabwe while its shareholders try to resolve their problems.
“On Tuesday 27 October flyafrica.com laid serious fraud and theft charges totalling in excess of US$140 000 against a family member of our local partner in flyafrica Zimbabwe,” chief executive officer (CEO), Adrian Hamilton-Manns, said in a statement.
“flyafrica.com has also suspended the Zimbabwe partner within the airline for breach of directorial and fiduciary duties. Further charges are anticipated. In retaliation, the Zimbabwe partner illegally and unilaterally attempted to surrender our air operator certificate to the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ). This raised concerns within CAAZ about the relationship between flyafrica.com and the local partner,” Hamilton-Manns said.
flyAfrica halted flights last week after Zimbabwe chief executive officer, Chakanyuka Karase, responded to the dramatic boardroom coup by surrendering the airline’s operating licence to government, which said he was the recipient of the licence.
His move left passengers stranded.
And it placed more difficulties on the airline’s shareholders.
Last week’s statement by the airline indicated that the troubles were far from over, as fresh charges against the Zimbabwe CEO, or a member of his family, would deepen an already worse situation and keep the airline out of the country’s skies.
“We are seeking a swift solution to this and will be exploring all options as this action by our Zimbabwean partner is illegal and solely designed to damage our brand by attempting to inconvenience the travel plans of our loyal customers,” said Hamilton-Manns.
“We strongly believe that passengers should not be used as a pressure point in a shareholder dispute. We anticipate that the temporary flight ban will be lifted shortly. In the interim we have sourced an alternative aircraft from one of our other partners; some operations restarted today (28 October) and we anticipate normal operations from midday tomorrow, Thursday 29 October,” he said.
Karase approached the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development after the attempted boardroom coup, calling off all flights.
However, government rejected changes proposed by the airline to its directors, noting that it was only Karase who was allowed to operate the airline in Zimbabwe.
The grounding of the airline, which had extended its route network to Namibia after starting off with the Harare- Johannesburg and Harare-Victoria Falls routes, left scores of passengers who were due to fly for a United Nations conference in Victoria Falls on Tuesday stranded.
But it triggered big battle.
As Karase surrendered the licence to CAAZ, Hamilton-Manns said shareholders were behind his push to crack down on his fraud claims.
“This conflict is deeply troubling to us,” he said.
“However, we cannot allow theft on such a large scale to go unresponded. Our commitment to flyafrica.com is absolute and our shareholders are backing us. This issue impacts flyafrica Zimbabwe – not the overall flyafrica.com project,” he said.
Last week, Transport Minister, Joram Gumbo, told this newspaper that government was concerned by the problems at the airline as it affected the flow of tourists.
flyAfrica had extended its route network to Namibia after starting off with the Harare- Johannesburg and Harare-Victoria Falls routes.
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