HARARE – The Zimbabwe National Roads Authority (ZINARA) managers paid themselves huge allowances for hairstyles, corporate wear and gym equipment, MPs heard on Monday.
Top managers pocketed US$3,000 each to buy corporate wear; received US$4,000 to buy gym equipment each and over US$60,000 was blown on hairdressers.
ZINARA, Parliament’s Public Accounts committee heard, still went on to pay gym subscriptions for the managers.
The findings were made by the Auditor General, whose report the MPs said pointed to rampant corporate malfeasance at the roads agency which collects road tax fees and money from tollgates to maintain the country’s road network.
ZINARA is also paying salaries for two CEOs since June 2018 – to the suspended Nancy Masiyiwa-Chamisa and Mathlene Mujokoro, who is Acting CEO.
The committee, chaired by Tendai Biti (MDC, Harare East) on Monday grilled Transport Minister Joe Biggie Matiza about the rot.
Matiza said the board was “in negotiations with the CEO… to make sure that they come to an agreement” about her exit.
Edwin Mushoriwa (MDC, Dzivarasekwa) wondered why the board was negotiating with the CEO if wrongdoing was proven.
“When there is a report of corruption and maladministration and when you hear that there are negotiations with the former CEO, what comes into our mind is a golden handshake that is going to be given. We were expecting to see heads rolling but you now have a softer approach unless you are saying the board suspended a wrong person,” Mushoriwa told Matiza.
Matiza said some of the rot pre-dated his arrival at the ministry, and promised that the MPs’ concerns would be addressed once a new CEO is in place.
“It’s not enough, with all due respect, just to say that we have a new board. We would have thought that there must be evidence of action taken against employees, we have interviewed them and they are very arrogant and they are still there… We’re not hearing a convincing story going forward arising out of the omission of the past,” Biti said.
