Source: The Herald – Breaking news.
Freeman Razemba
Senior Reporter
The Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) has been complimented by Government for showing exemplary good corporate governance as evidenced by its consistent disbursements to road authorities and commitment to clear audit issues.
This was said by Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona who was represented by Permanent Secretary Engineer Theodius Chinyanga at Zinara’s sixth Annual General meeting held in Harare yesterday. The AGM presented the accounts for the 2020 and 2021 financial years.
“I commend the ZINARA board, management and staff for their unparalleled commitment and hard work towards executing their roles and aligning the organisation’s to its legislative mandate,” said Minister Mhona.
“This level of diligence aids in the progressive development and rehabilitation of transport infrastructure across the country.
“I am aware of the various initiatives that Zinara is undertaking to improve its governance systems. I commend the board and management for rewriting the script for Zinara. I am equally proud to be associated with the organisation.”
Minister Mhona however challenged Zinara to explore new and innovative ways of improving its operations to ensure maximum revenue collections.
“I encourage Zinara to work closely with other stakeholders to promote a culture of integrity and transparency, and this includes partnering with civil society organisations where possible and the media to promote awareness of the organisation’s mandate, its brand at large and also the good things being done which may at times go unnoticed.
“I was quite pleased to hear the Secretary of Finance and Economic Development applauding ZINARA as one Government organization operating in sync with Government policy in terms of inflation control measures.
“That is the epitome of good corporate citizenship and responsible leadership in state entities,” he said.
The Minister acknowledged that Zinara’s financial performance was affected by Covid-19 in 2021 resulting in mounting pressure from the road authorities.
Zinara collects the vehicle licence fees and tolls and disperses these to the road authorities, basically the Government for national roads and the local authorities.
On his part, Zinara board chairman Dr George Manyaya said: “As Zinara, we have taken it upon ourselves to be the best example of a responsible and nationally conscious public entity. This self-imposed obligation calls for dedicated and deliberate action on the part of the board, management, and staff of Zinara.
“We believe that we will rewrite our story, and the only name that should come to the mind of any person when it comes to responsible corporations in Zimbabwe should be Zinara. In our pursuit to do this, we are working very hard to ensure our finances are up to date.”
Zinara chief executive officer Mr Nkosinathi Ncube said in 2021 they disbursed $13,2 billion to road authorities and was implementing a cocktail of measures and strategies in line with the organisation’s values.
He said the organisation had also addressed all the issues that were raised in the Grant Thornton Audit report in a move aimed at enhancing transparency and organisational integrity.
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