EDITOR – What happened to David Whitehead was an abnormal situation and there is no way an abnormal situation can become normal.
Whitehead was the pillar of Zimbabwe's textile industry and today we can say the textile industry doesn’t exist. The proper questions have to be asked and if the trail is followed from the beginning of judicial management the clear picture will appear.
What was the state of David Whitehead’s prior judicial management? Well, it was having minor financial problems but it was productive enough to overcome those challenges. When the judicial manager resigned was it in a better state or a worse of state than before he came in? Why did the judicial resign before finishing his work properly? Was he running away from something? Out of all the investors where there not others who had better capacity and experience to run David Whitehead who were overlooked by the Judicial manager?
Did the judicial manager choose the investor who he knew had the capacity or the knowledge to take over David Whitehead, knowing it was a dead duck and the problems would explode in investors’ faces? What was the judicial manager’s track record in turning around companies? As far as I am concerned, Madondo has left a trail of running down companies – remember Conte shoes? With the trail of failure that Madondo and Tudor house have left in their wake, should the continue as judicial managers?
Today Zimbabwe is flooded with imported textiles when it’s our raw material being used to produce these products. We have gone backwards not forward while we reward madness and don't ask the proper questions. We risk becoming the laughing stock of the world by destroying our industries and workers’ lives by rewarding a crazy judicial manager. Look at Chegutu and Kadoma – that’s not normal. The judicial manager has to be held to account for his actions. – Edward Hove, by e-mail
Post published in: Letters to the Editor