Chief executive officers of some state enterprises and parastatals are earning monthly salaries that are as high as US$12 000 despite the fact that some of them are struggling to remain viable, a Government official has said.

Secretary for State Enterprise and Parastatals Mr Eliah Mutowo said they were working on remuneration guidelines for executives of these entities to rationalise their salaries.

He was giving oral evidence before a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on State Enterprises and Parastatals. Zvishavane Runde MP Cde Larry Mavhima (Zanu-PF) chairs the committee.

Responding to a question from Cde Mavhima on what was the highest salary executives for state entities were earning, Mr Mutowo said some were earning as high as US$12 000.

He, however, said the average salary for them hovered around US$5 000 per month. Mr Mutowo expressed concern at the reluctance by line ministries to appoint boards of directors for parastatals and entities. This, he said, was not consistent with good corporate governance.

He said when such appointments were done, line ministries were not relying on the database of names that they would have submitted to them.

The committee wanted to know why some entities like Air Zimbabwe were going for almost 18 months without a properly constituted board.