The Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara), which for years has been government’s problem child, has recieved a clean audit from the Auditor-General for the year ended December 31, 2023.
This unprecedented achievement has left many stakeholders challenging long-held assumptions about the institution’s financial practices and accountability, officials said.
In his keynote address at the 8th Zinara Annual General Meeting and the presentation of the audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023, Transport and Infrastructural Development minister Felix Mhona applauded the administration for making great efforts towards complying with key tenets of good corporate governance.
He also applauded the Zinara board of directors for ensuring that its favourable corporate image is sustained.
“It is possible to transform Zinara into the best road fund manager in the region. The over-arching guiding principle is that the Zinara board should continue to provide strategic guidance to management to ensure that it endures as a sustainable and viable road fund from which resources are disbursed to roads authorities for them to maintain our roads,” he said.
Mhona said the Zinara of yesteryear had a dark past tainted with allegations of corruption, adding that it was refreshing that the current management had to transform the organisation and ensure it contributed meaningfully to national development.
“Our focus is to ensure that members of public unlock value from the contributions they make through taxes and other road-user charges collected by Zinara.
“The AGM is indeed the key governance platform to interrogate the extent to which the organisation fared during the period under review.
- Mhona hails Zinara turnaround
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“As stakeholders, we are excited by the work ethic, attitude and focus of Zinara board and management. Unrelenting efforts to comply with corporate governance principles at Zinara and voluntary subjection to oversight, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms by the line ministry, Auditor-General, relevant parliamentary portfolio committees and the corporate governance unit, among other watchdogs, is an eloquent testimony of the milestones being achieved by Zinara.”
Zinara board chairperson George Manyaya said during the year under review his organisation made immense progress to clear a backlog of issues raised by the Auditor-General and the parliamentary portfolio committees on transport and public accounts.
“We have also taken concerted steps to comply with all relevant statues relating to public entities like us. We also took steps towards enhancement of the delivery of our mandate, thereby closing the year with most of our strategic targets being met and some exceeded,” he said.
Zinara chief executive Nkosinathi Ncube said the organisation was targeting to license one million vehicles in 2025.
