THE Municipality of Chinhoyi has failed to account for the missing 6 700 litres of fuel meant for road rehabilitation in the city, the National Assembly has heard.
This has resulted in the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) withholding funding for road works in Chinhoyi before acquittal of the missing fuel.
Chinhoyi lawmaker Leslie Mhangwa asked what measures were being taken by the Local Government and Public Works ministry to resolve the impasse between Zinara and Chinhoyi Municipality, which has resulted in non-remittance of road rehabilitation funds during the last two years.
In response, Local Government and Public Works deputy minister Benjamin Kabikira said Chinhoyi municipality should account for the missing 6 700 litres of fuel before any disbursement is made.
“The Zinara audit report highlighted variance in fuel disbursement to Chinhoyi Municipality,” Kabikira said.
“The local authority carried out an internal investigation that discovered that fuel registers were not available to account for the missing fuel, amounting to 6 700 litres.
“The ministry is currently in the process of setting up an investigation team to look into the issue… once the investigations are over, they will then give recommendations about this case.”
Kabikira said investigations were still ongoing.
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“As a ministry, we will try the best we can to ensure the issue is resolved as quickly as possible, although I may not give a timeline at this moment,” he said.
In a separate interview with NewsDay, Mhangwa said he was concerned about the state of roads in Chinhoyi after it was “blacklisted” by Zinara for non-compliance and failure to account for disbursed funds.
Combined Chinhoyi Residents Association (CCRA) chairperson Tendayi Musonza demanded accountability for the missing fuel.
“As CCRA, we fully agree with the honourable deputy minister's position of not disbursing money to the Municipality of Chinhoyi until a full inquest on the missing fuel,” he said.
“If they were to be given the money before the full acquittal of the previous disbursement, what assurance do we have that the money (fuel) will not take a walk again?”
Investigations by NewsDay showed that Chinhoyi municipality has done nothing about the missing fuel issue and the employee involved is getting his full salary while on suspension.
The employee was suspended in 2023.
