ZINARA board enjoys toll fees exemption without ministerial nod
MARTIN MAWAYA
HARARE-Acting Auditor-General Rheah Kujinga has exposed mis-governance at Zimbabwe National Road Authority (ZINARA), amid indications that the road authority board members exempted themselves from paying toll fees and vehicle licensing without approval from the responsible ministry.
In an audit report ending 31 December, 2022, Kujinga revealed that the ZINARA board’s action warranted risks of financial loss due to unauthorized benefits.
“The board authorized an exemption to its members from paying toll fees and vehicle licences fees for two (2) personal vehicles per member without approval from the parent ministry.
This was contrary to the provision of the Public Entities and Corporate Governance Act, which requires other benefits to be approved by the responsible Minister,” reads part of the report.
She added that the ZINARA admistration further violated the provisions of the Public Entities Corporate Governance Act by appointing members of internal audit function as members of the disposal committee, adding that the action had a risk and implication of compromising the independence of internal audit function.
On vehicle licensing database, Kujinga noted that the “management has been resorting to manual adjustments of the vehicle licensing revenue figures for vehicles that were due for deregistration, an exercise that is prone to human error”.
Consequently, the AG said the exercise has a risk and implication for fraud and material errors that may go undetected or use of particulars of vehicles due for deregistration may go undetected.
However, ZINARA in its response said that they had resolved to revoke the practice of granting of both vehicle licences and toll free exemptions to board members until they received a feed back from the responsible Minister.
