HARARE- Struggling national airliner, Air Zimbabwe, is under Parliament scrutiny over alleged corruption, deficiencies including unrecorded aircraft and failure to compute tax liabilities in what lawmakers describe as a matter needing immediate attention amid fears that the entity could lose some of its aircraft including a grounded airbus in South Africa.
According to the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report on Air Zimbabwe’s 2020 audited accounts, there are significant deficiencies exposed, including the use of aircraft not recognised in its financial statements.
Report from PAC on Air Zimbabwe’s 2020 Audited Accounts presented to the National Assembly by Chimanimani West Member of Parliament Wilson Maposa said the entity has unrecorded aircraft not recorded as assets in its financial statements, a position that raises questions.
“The Committee also noted the use of several aircraft by the airline which were not recognised as assets in its financial statements. There was no information on whether Air Zimbabwe is the rightful owner of the aircraft,” Maposa said.
Six aircrafts were mentioned with Air Zimbabwe officials saying they have since written to the government to obtain the necessary documentation to facilitate formal recognition of these assets in its books.
“The A320 Z-WPM ownership ambiguity creates potential liability exposure under the Chicago Convention,” Maposa said in reference to a matter on one of the aircraft.
The committee recommended that Air Zimbabwe should register all aircraft under the government of Zimbabwe by August this year.
The committee recommended that Air Zimbabwe should register all aircraft under the government of Zimbabwe by August this year.
“The audit noted that since January 19, 2014, when the Z-WPM A320 aircraft was grounded in South Africa, a debt pertaining to parking fees had not been accrued. Servicing of the debt was also not being done for a reason that invoices were not being received from South African Airways Technical.”
The committee was, however, told that the airline wrote to South African Airways Technical (SAAT) to confirm their position and received confirmation that no parking fees were due.
“Instead, the aircraft was only quoted for the outstanding maintenance work that would be required when the aircraft is scheduled to fly.
It was further indicated that, to prevent similar oversights in the future, the airline had established regular communication channels with SAAT to obtain the invoices for any chargeable tasks on the grounded aircraft,” Maposa said.
The committee, however, expressed fears there could be consequences.
“Continued storage exposes the Aircraft to potential seizure under South Africa’s Airport By-Laws,” Maposa reported.
On tax computations, the committee noted that they were not done.“Audit noted that during the year ended December 31, 2019, Air Zimbabwe did not do any tax computation for both income tax and deferred tax. Quarterly returns were not being done. The tax liability and deferred tax could not be ascertained,” Maposa said.
“Air Zimbabwe should submit all outstanding financial statements to the Auditor General by 31 August 2026. The Government of Zimbabwe should ensure that submission of financial statements in time is part of the performance contracts for Accounting Officers by 31 August 2026,” the committee recommended.
Dzivarasekwa MP, Edwin Mushoriwa, said the report by the Public Accounts Committee on Air Zimbabwe shows that all is not well.
” The Auditor-General’s report dates back to 2019, leaving a gap for 2021 and 2022 with no updates provided. The Auditor-General has raised serious allegations of corruption, indicating that even the financial accounts presented are not accurate,” Mushoriwa said.
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